The Voicemail
by hearttorn
Summary: A simple message sends Sookie's life spinning... AH, Rated M for language, later lemons. Sookie x Eric x Sam
1. Chapter 1

A/N: so, this idea came to me in a dream, and it was so strong I literally got out of bed at 6 a.m. to get it down. And I NEVER get up at 6, peeps! You're going to see some characters in ways you might not like them in this one... just a warning. It's been a while since I've written - the creative muse done up and left me - and I thought that when I did start writing again, it would probably be a little snarky, funny one-shot. But I got this instead... Rated M for language, and later, lemons.

...

Sookie was exhausted. She'd worked a 12 hour day, and when they finally called it a day on set, she got in her car and headed home. It was about 7 o'clock in the evening, and all she wanted was to slip on one of her bikinis and hit the pool.

She loved her job, she really did - hell, it was where she'd met Eric. She worked as a property master on films, both independent and major blockbusters. Right now, she was doing props for Harrison Ford's latest film. It was, without a doubt, one of the top 3 films she'd ever done - the top slot being the job with her husband, of course. Harrison Ford was her very first crush, as Han Solo, and working with him was like a dream come true for her.

She got in her car and hit the highway - everything in L.A. took almost an hour to get to from the set, and most of it was highway driving. She usually passed the time listening to mindless pop music and singing along at the top of her lungs. It was a good way to decompress and let off the steam and stress of the day.

Soon, she pulled in to her apartment complex parking lot, noting with her tired brain that Eric wasn't home yet. His flashy red Corvette was nowhere to be found, and that could only mean one thing - he'd gotten the part.

Smiling, she ran upstairs to their small 2-bedroom apartment and quickly changed into her favorite polka dot bikini. It had boy short bottoms, meaning it was better to swim laps in than some of her string bottomed sets. She threw on her giant, fluffy pink robe and a pair of flip flops and headed out to the complex pool.

Once there, she threw off her robe and dove into the deep end. She swam over and took off the rope that marked the deep from the shallow, and began swimming laps. The pool was where she went to work off the stresses of her day, let her tired muscles loosen up a bit. When she got out each night, she felt cleansed somehow.

She was on another countless lap when she heard the gate to the pool area squeak. Looking over, she saw her husband, Eric. She called out, "Hi Baby! I'm almost done, let me get out and-" when he cut her off.

"Sookie..." he said, his voice strangled. Startled by his tone, she swam over to where he was crouched at the side of the water. His face looked grey, and there was an expression on it she'd never seen before - fear.

Eric was never afraid of anything - losing out on a part, going for a really big part when he was still mostly unknown, hell even when cut open his head in a minor car accident he didn't look afraid. And his looks were his job, his career - SHE was panicked when she got to the E.R., not about his looks but just worried about HIM - but he was stoic throughout the stitches it took.

So, something must be really wrong for him to look so ashen, with fear in his eyes. She immediately worried that something was wrong with one of their family members - her Gran, or maybe his sister Pam. She looked up at him from the water expectantly.

"Sookie..." he choked out again.

"Eric, what's wrong?" she cried. "Whatever it is, just tell me."

Wordlessly, he held out his cell phone and hit the button for voicemail, then speakerphone. A woman's voice had left him a message, and she sounded barely in control of herself.

"Come to Mount Sinai hospital. We'll meet you there." Abruptly the call was ended.

The caller wasn't anyone she recognized. "Eric... who's that woman? Who's "we?"

He said nothing, looking anywhere but her. "Eric..." she started to ask again, when an idea, so horrible, hit her straight in the chest. Her hand shot out and knocked the phone out of his, right into the water.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N So, a few people have commented that this story reminds them of Arnold and Maria. I SWEAR, I hadn't even thought of that when I was writing. The muse (well, some form of it, I've adapted it to fit SVM) came to me in a dream, like I said, and I don't think I think/care enough about Arnold and Maria to dream about them! LOL I'd like to give special thanks to my pre-readers vikingloverelle and sunshinelvr - you girls are so awesome! As usual, everything belong to Charlaine Harris, who is too amazing to have written this little drivel!_

She grabbed the ladder of the pool and almost heaved herself out of it, she was moving so fast. She threw on her robe and ran straight out the gate, up the stairs and into their apartment. She threw herself in the shower to rinse off the chlorine. She let the water pulse over her, her brain moving so fast she was almost dizzy.

The bathroom door creaked open a slit and her husband's head popped in. "Sookie...?"

"Who is she, Eric?"

"Look, Sookie, I don't know if-"

"WHO is she and what did she want?" she demanded.

He moved the shower curtain back a bit, and she turned her head under the spray to face him.

He sighed, running a hand through his shaggy blond hair. "Her name is Felicia. She- I used to know her. She was calling about a little girl named April." He didn't meet her eyes.

"And why was she calling _you_?" On some level, Sookie knew the answer, but wanted him to have to say the words.

"I... she... we worked together on a job about 6 years ago. April is her daughter. I guess she's about five."

"I see... and why is she calling you about her daughter?" Sookie's eyes were boring into the top of his head as he hung it between them. The thought crossed her mind that he looked like a puppy who knew he'd broken one of the rules, and couldn't face his master.

"She... Sook, I slept with her. Once."

Sookie's hand shot out and slapped him, hard, across the face.

"And is the child yours?

"I... I don't know. Felicia said she was, but I know I wasn't the only person she was with at the time, so I doubted it. I haven't heard anything from her since she told me about the ba-... since she told me. Sook, it was only once..."

"NO!" she screamed, getting out of the shower and grabbing a towel. "Do NOT try to justify your cheating with, 'it was only once!" she mimicked his voice. She shoved past him out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, grabbing some clothes out of the dresser drawers. She stared for a moment at their underwear drawer - his mingled in with hers. She looked at him; he had sat down heavily on their bed.

"Sook, just come over here and I'll tell you everything." He patted the space beside him on the bed. She grabbed up her clothes, spun to face him and screamed, "NO! That bed is our safe place Eric, it's where we never fight, and where we make up after a fight. You KNOW we set it as a place where only good things happen! And nothing about this is a good thing." She took her armload of clothes and headed into the spare bedroom. She had dressed and was running a comb through her hair, jerkily, when he stepped into the doorway.

"I met her on a set, like I said it was years ago. It was just the one time-"

"Do NOT try to justify your cheating by telling me it was only once! Cheating is cheating, Eric, no matter how many times it happened." She yanked her hair into a wet, messy ponytail and pushed past him, grabbing her keys from the coffee table in the living room.

"You're going to HIM, aren't you?" Eric's voice rang out behind her, only instead of being hesitant and apologetic, it was hard and he bit out the words.

She turned back to look at her husband, her beautiful, handsome husband, whom she had always been a little shocked that he was interested in _her_, that he married _her_. "HE'S never let me down," she bit back, and slammed the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N I realize these chapters are shorter than most stories, but I just feel that each chapter has a certain action it needs to tell, so I've left it at that. I've got about 9 chapters done so far, so rest assured, more is on the way! Everything belongs to Charlaine..._

She ran up the walk to Sam's condo. She pounded on the door, and she could hear her best friend inside, hollering, "I'm coming, hold your horses..." as he made his way to the door. She was still pounding when he yanked it open. He took one look at her, messy hair, face red from crying in the car, eyes swollen. "Oh, shit."

She almost fell past him and onto the couch. "What did that fucker do?" he growled.

"He... he _cheated_, Sam. He _cheated_. And there's a kid involved." She didn't say anything more before she was wrapped up in Sam's arms, crushed against his chest. She sobbed against him, gripping his t-shirt tight in her fist.

"Oh, cher..." He rubbed and patted her back, and she almost, almost smiled at his words. You could take Sam out of Louisiana, but you couldn't take Louisiana out of him.

He rocked her softly, until she had cried herself out. She pulled back and looked at him, her face ravaged with a pain she never knew she could feel. She stumbled out the story to him, and when she was done, he roughly pulled her into his embrace again and held her tightly as she sobbed once more.

"Shit, cher... I was afraid of this when you first met him. I mean, actors are known for it, pretty much. But, you guys have been married so long, and I was finally thinking maybe he could pull off monogamy. I'm so, so sorry, hon."

She looked up at him through tear stained lashes. "I have to go, Sam."

He looked confused. "Where? Where do you have to go?" Behind him, his phone started ringing. It went to the answering machine, the caller hung up, and the phone began to ring again, non-stop.

They took one look at each other, and knew it was Eric.

"I have to go to the hospital, Sam. I have to see her, see if she's his," she choked out.

"Sook, are you sure you want to...?"

"Yes!" she said, looking around her. "Oh fuck, I must've left my purse at home when I ran out..."

"Sookie, don't worry about your purse. I'll drive you down there." Sam's voice sounded resigned.

…

The whole way to the hospital, neither one of them said a word. Sam drove quickly, his face hard and set. He had barely pulled to a stop in the parking space when she was out the door, on her way to the E.R. entrance. He hurried to catch up behind her.

Before she could step foot inside, a woman came out carrying a little girl. The woman was beautiful, tall and lean with lovely caramel skin and long hair extensions weaved down her back.

The two women stopped dead and looked at each other, knowing instantly who the other was. The little girl raised her head, and Sookie could see she'd had some stitches, near her hairline, and she had a large bruise. But what hit her like a ton of bricks were her eyes - vibrant, beautiful blue. Eric's eyes.

Behind her, feet pounded on the pavement. Without turning, she knew it was Eric. She heard the little girl ask, "Mommy, who's _that_?" She turned to Sam, her vision tunneling, and fainted, straight into his arms.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N Thank you SO MUCH to all of you that have reviewed! I was a little nervous posting this at first, because like I said in chapter 1, I'm portraying some of these characters in a different light. I read each and every one of them, and appreciate them! I've got Ch 10 already written, and I had some brainstorms today as to where to take this next. Please, keep reading and reviewing!_

Sookie woke up slowly, a tight feeling on her arm bringing her back from the dark. Someone was squeezing her arm, she had to get away... She struggled back to consciousness, finding a nurse using a blood pressure cuff on her.

"There you are," smiled the nurse, whose name tag read Sally. "You've had a whole roomful of people worried about you. Gave them quite a scare."

Sookie turned her head to the left, seeing Sam hovering anxiously, with Eric slumped in a chair behind him. She turned to the right, and saw the woman she knew to be Felicia standing in the doorway, the little girl holding her hand now and hiding behind her leg.

Instantly, Sookie remembered where she was and what was happening. Eric. Eric cheated with this woman. And though he said he didn't know if the child was his, Sookie did. She knew deep in her bones that this was Eric's daughter. The thought nearly made her faint again, but she shook her head, struggling to hold onto consciousness, and then ripped the cuff off her arm. She rolled to the side of the bed and, swaying, stood up. Eric jumped up as if to steady her, but the look on her face had his arm left just dangling in the air.

"Whoa, there," Sally said. "You just passed out, you need to lay down for a bit longer until the doctor can take a look at you."

"I'm fine," she said, grabbing on to Sam's arm. "What I _need_ is to not be here. Sam...?" she left the question unasked in the air.

"Sure, Sook... I've got you. C'mon." He held her arm gently but firmly and started leading her out of the room.

"Sookie...?" Eric asked. "When are you coming home, we need to talk about-"

She looked back at her husband. "I'm not, and we don't," she said, as Sam lead her out of the room.

…

Sam drove her to her apartment, where the two of them rushed to pack her a few bags, throwing in anything and everything they thought she might need. Sookie was sure she'd end up with something missing, like no underwear or deodorant, but couldn't bring herself to care.

As they were heading out the door, Eric appeared in front of them. His hair was disheveled, like he'd been dragging his hands through it. He was sagging against the door frame, his tall body folded in on itself. He looked up to meet her, his eyes blank and empty.

"Sookie, I'm so sor-" She cut him off with a shaking hand in the air. "No, you're not _sorry_. If you were so _sorry_, you would've remembered that you were married, and never done it."

Sam came up behind them, and pushed Eric back when he reached for her. "No, man, I think you've done enough."


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I just looked at my profile and realized I've written (or at least started) 22 stories! I had no idea it was that many. Time flies when you're having fun! Also, I know some of these chapters are short, but I promise they do get longer as the story goes on!_

_In honor of the 4th, here's an extra chapter!  
><em>

The next few weeks seemed to both race by and drag by, so slowly Sookie thought she might pull her hair out. She kept going to work, but her usual sunny demeanor was replaced by a robotic execution of her duties. She knew that everyone was whispering behind her back; hell, she'd even overheard that Harrison Ford himself had asked if she was okay. When her shift was done, she went "home" to Sam's place. He'd cook a dinner that she couldn't bring herself to eat, even though she knew that food was his way to comfort her. Food was Sam's life; when he and Sookie left Louisiana for the bright lights of Hollywood, they had dreamed of him becoming a chef, and her - well, she had the job she loved. Sam, however, ended up tending bar at a small place. When the owners decide to sell, Sam was able to buy a half share, going in with the short order cook, Lafayette. Sam contented himself now with coming up with new ideas for the menus with Lafayette, and more recently his campaign of "Get Sookie to Eat."

He made her favorites: chicken fried steak, biscuits from scratch, even calling her Gran to get her recipe for pecan pie. Sookie picked at it, at best. Most nights, she simply told him she couldn't force anything down.

Everyone worried for her as her normally curvy figure shrank and began to look gaunt and too thin. Still, she plodded on, working long hours every day and collapsing on Sam's sofa at night. She was mostly numb, except for the two times one of Eric's commercials came on. He had pretty steady roles as a stage actor, but like everyone in Hollywood, was trying to break into film. So far he'd done a few commercials and had a few bit parts, but success wasn't coming as quickly as he'd planned, and she'd hoped. When one of his commercials did come on, she would stalk out of the room, usually to the bathroom, where she sobbed until she thought her heart would break. Then she'd remember - it was already broken. It about killed Sam to listen to her, but he knew she needed to let it out.

Another outlet for her pain was cleaning - she scrubbed and scrubbed Sam's bachelor apartment until it was spotless, then she cleaned some more. He would come home sometimes after the bar closed, usually 2 or 3 in the morning, and find her on her knees, scrubbing the cracks between the kitchen tiles. He'd usually haul her up, take her gently by the shoulders and put her to bed, knowing she had to be on set as early as 6 a.m. sometimes.

This routine continued for about 3 weeks, with her on autopilot at work and either cleaning or sitting around in a stupor at Sam's, when one day at work she was startled out of her blankness by someone grabbing her elbow and dragging her off to a trailer.

It was her friend, Amelia, who was the makeup artist for the film. She pulled her into the makeup trailer, locked the door behind them, handed her a sandwich and said, "Spill."

So Sookie did. She told her friend about Eric's betrayal, his fathering a child with someone else. When she got to that little tidbit of the story, Amelia gasped.

"That FUCKER! I was always afraid he might cheat - hell, most actors do - but to have a baby with someone else? Jesus, Sook, there isn't any way he could've hurt you MORE."

Sookie looked at Amelia and smiled sadly. "No, Ames, I think the worst part of this is that Eric had a child with someone else, and never did anything about it. He never sent money, he wasn't around for her birthdays, he completely ignored her. He wouldn't even admit to me that the girl was his, but I saw her, and there's no way she's not Eric's."

"Oh, hon... you would think after what you've been through, he would at least own up to her and try to be a father."

Amelia was talking about something only those closest to Sookie knew - that her parents died when she was young, and the biggest sorrow in her life - that she couldn't have children. She'd been abused by an uncle when she was still a little girl, and it left her with so much internal damage that it was impossible for her to get pregnant.

Sookie could barely remember her parents, she was so young when they passed, and she had a great upbringing with her Gran. But not being able to have babies with Eric, that was a pain she carried around every day. Eric knew before they got married that they wouldn't be able to have children, but he swore to Sookie that it didn't matter - he said they could adopt more kids than the Jolie-Pitts if that was what she wanted.

The very thought of Eric fathering a child with someone else was nauseating to her. The thought of him _ignoring_ that child; that, that was pain even deeper. She knew what it was like to grow up without a father to carry her on his shoulders, kiss her boo boos, take her to the park, and it was killing her to think of this child, this April, to have to deal with the same thing.

"Every day he sends flowers, Ames, and every day I send them back. Does he really think I could forgive this?" She looked up at Amelia with hollow eyes. "That flowers will make me smile and everything will be all better? That I'll just forgive him and we'll both just ignore the fact that he cheated, that he _fathered a baby_, with someone else? That we'll go on, even though I can never trust him again, and that he's a deadbeat dad?"

"I don't know, sweetie. Who knows WHAT he's thinking. He clearly wasn't thinking when he decided to cheat on you. Hell, you're the best thing that's ever happened to him. If it wasn't for you-"

"Stop, Ames, please stop. I know that I've helped his career, mentioning him to anyone and everyone I worked with that I could think might help him get a boost up, get cast. It makes me sick to think that while I was doing that, just blindly in love and trying to help my husband, he was with someone else. He says it was only once, but GOD! Once is bad enough!" Her numb exterior cracked, and Sookie started to cry again.

Amelia quickly took in the situation and radioed for the A.D. to let him know that Sookie was sick, and needed a personal day. She used her lunch break to drive Sookie home, and tucked her into Sam's bed - Sookie had been sleeping on the couch - and finally, when Sookie fell off into a fitful sleep, she left the card for her divorce lawyer on the nightstand.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam came home and looked around the place for Sookie, finally finding her curled up in a small ball in his bed. He sighed, dropped his keys on the dresser, kicked off his boots and curled up behind her on the bed.

He just held her for the longest time, until Sookie started to stir and said, "Eric...", clearly not quite awake yet and thinking his arms belonged to her husband. At that, he bolted off the bed as she came awake.

"No, sorry Sook, it's just me. I just thought I'd comfort you a bit, I didn't think you'd think I was-"

Sookie gave a sad smile. "No, I know, Sam. Here, come back and lie with me again, it felt nice." Sam laid on the bed next to her, both of them on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. He felt her hand creep over across the bed and hold his.

'Thank you, Sam, for all this. Doing everything you've done-"

"Hush, Sook, it wasn't even a question. You know I'd do anything for you." At that, a knock sounded from the front door. Sam smiled over at her and said, "Including sending back your daily bouquet." He got up and made his way to the door, the words "take them back" dying on his lips as he saw who was standing there.

It was Eric, and he had a bouquet of wildflowers in his hand. "Hey, Sam, I thought Sookie might like these better-" but his words were cut off when Sam grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the opposite wall. Sam was several inches shorter than Eric, but he was strong in a wiry way, and his fury took Eric by surprise. He dropped the flowers and started to say, 'What the FUCK, man?" when Sam's fist connected with his lip.

"No, I should be asking you WHAT THE FUCK," Sam growled. "How the hell could you do that to her, man? Jesus, you pretty much just kicked her in the heart, you fucker. Now get the hell out of here before I mess up your pretty face some more."

Eric shook himself out of Sam's grasp and put his hands up in the universal gesture for peace. "Ok, dude, fine, I'll..." his words trailed off as he looked behind Sam to see Sookie coming out of Sam's bedroom, wearing just a t-shirt and rubbing her head.

"Sam, what's going on?" she asked sleepily, but her eyes shot open as she took in who was outside.

"Right. I get it. You've always wanted to fuck her, and now you've got your chance, don't you?" Eric spat. "The evil husband makes ONE mistake and you're there to swoop in and catch her on the rebound." His fist drew back to hit Sam, but he was stopped by Sookie's voice.

"Eric, I don't want to see you. I don't want your flowers or whatever line you've come up with to justify yourself. You don't need to worry yourself with trying to apologize, or make Sam out to be the bad guy. Just get out of here." She grabbed Sam and pulled him back inside, slamming the door in Eric's face.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Man, you guys have a lot of really strong feelings about this story! I hope each coming chapter will answer your questions, little by little. And what's with all the Sam hate? He's been nothing but a good friend to Sookie so far. I know that, when my ex cheated on me, I called *my* best friend, who is a guy, and asked him to stay with me for a few days so I wouldn't feel so alone, and someone else being around helped distract me and keep me away from sharp objects. To me, cheating is the ultimate betrayal, and I know I couldn't get past it. It just felt... the ex just felt dirty. I couldn't touch him again. So, a little bit of my own feelings are coming in to play here, but I'm trying to just let the characters lead where they will._ _Anyway, on with the show! This chapter is just a little transitional one, but we need to see how Sookie felt after Eric's visit..._

Sookie sank down into the couch, gasping, and Sam sat next to her, pulling her into his lap. He rubbed her back and waited until her breathing slowed and returned to normal.

"Sookie, I'm so sorry-"

"No! Sam, you don't have anything to apologize for. One punch is the least he deserves."

"Right, okay. Listen, Sooks, I found this on the nightstand," he said, handing her a card that said, 'Damon Cataliades, Attorney at Law.' "I'm guessing Amelia brought you home today?"

Sookie nodded. "She must've left that, I recognize the name of her divorce attorney. I guess... I guess I should call him tomorrow, huh?"

"You do what you need in your own time, cher. But, if this is what you decide you want, then you can't get any better than this guy. I hear he's a real demon to go up against in court. He'll make sure you get a fair settlement."

"Fair... right. You know, Sam, I really don't want anything from him."

"Sook-"

"No, seriously, Sam, am I supposed to keep the furniture we picked out together? The BED? No... I don't want anything that reminds me of him."

"Ok, cher. Well, for right now, what DO you want?"

"Right now, I feel so bone tired, just exhausted from everything, that I think I could finally sleep some more."

"Sure, cher. You take the bed and I'll switch to the couch. I told you all along I'd sleep here, anyway."

Sookie looked up at him. "Will you... will you stay with me?" she asked shyly. "I think I'd feel safer if you were there."

Sam swallowed. "Sure, Sook"- he managed a smile - "no problem. I'll be in there in just a minute."

Sookie wandered off down the hall while Sam stopped in the bathroom and stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt. He took a deep breath, and went in to sleep next to the woman he loved.

...

The next morning, Sookie woke to the pleasurable feel of an erection nestled against her backside. She murmured happily, still mostly asleep, and pushed back against it. Suddenly, the erection was gone as Sam jumped out of bed.

"Oh, God, Sook, I'm so sorry," Sam apologized while trying to cover the erection clearly tented in his boxers.

"Sam... oh, I'm so sorry too! I shouldn't have... well, you know," Sookie whispered.

Sam fled into the bathroom and tried to get control over his unruly member. He had been afraid that this might happen when she asked him to stay with her the night before, but he had just felt last night that he needed to offer comfort to Sookie, in any he could. He sighed, and ran a hand through his unruly hair. He quickly grabbed the jeans he had kicked off the night before and shucked them on. It was really embarrassing for him to leave the bathroom, but he knew he had to face her sometime.

Sookie had also fled, to the other bathroom. She emerged about the same time as Sam, fully dressed for work. She didn't meet Sam's eyes, but just said, "I'm going to get to work," and grabbed her purse from the coffee table in the living room, and fled.

"Oh, shit," said Sam. He really didn't know how to fix the situation, but he knew one thing he had to do. He grabbed some blankets and extra pillows from the linen closet, and laid them out on the couch. He decided that Sookie could have the bed, and he'd move to the couch. He couldn't take the risk, and the exquisite agony, of sleeping next to her again.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N so here, after long last, is a little from Eric's perspective. And of course, no SVM story would be complete without PAM! Ladies and gentlemen... I give you some Pamela Ravenscroft!

...

Pam let herself into her brother and sister-in-law's apartment. She hadn't been able to reach Eric on his cell phone for weeks, and she was beyond worried. Each time she called Sookie, the call was sent to voicemail.

She looked around the living room, noting the empty beer bottles and left over packages of microwave meals. She kicked a bottle away from her pumps and went searching for Eric, Sookie, _someone_.

She found Eric in the guest room, lying back on the bed with a package of frozen peas over what was clearly a split lip. There was no sign that Sookie had been in the apartment; Pam knew her sister-in-law would never let the place get so messy.

"What's up, brother? Where is Sookie?"

"She's not here," Eric replied from under the peas, wincing at the pain in his split lip as he spoke.

"Well, I can see that. What the hell happened? What did you do?"

He sighed. "It's... well, I did something really, really bad." Pam got a sinking feeling in her stomach as he spoke.

"And...?"

"I slept with someone else, Pam. Years ago, but she found out. I... well, it seems that when I cheated on her, _one time_, the woman got pregnant. And it's mine."

"You son of a bitch," Pam spat out. "How the fuck could you do that? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't... oh, hell. I was on a long shoot out in the desert. I got lonely, I was missing Sookie. And Felicia, well, she made it known that she was available. I made a mistake, one night, and got really, really drunk. The next morning I woke up next to her. I didn't have anything to do with her for the rest of the shoot, but she called me a few weeks later. She said she was pregnant and it was mine. I... well, I knew I wasn't the only guy she had been with - she was kind of known to sleep around - so I told her I didn't think the baby was mine and I didn't want to hear from her again. And I didn't, until about two weeks ago. She called, left me a frantic message, telling me to meet her at the hospital. I knew that I had to tell Sookie. So I played her the message, and she flipped out."

"Rightfully so," said Pam.

"Anyway, she left, she took off to Sam's place. I called but I couldn't get them to answer the phone. I had a feeling she'd go to the hospital, so I tried to get there before her and head her off the pass, you know, see if I could get Felicia out of there before Sookie got there. I didn't make it in time - right when I arrived Sookie was there, and she ran into Felicia and the little girl, who is apparently named April - the month she was conceived - and Sookie fainted.

We got her into a room, but as soon as she came to, she had Sam get her out of there. I knew she knew - it may have been the first time I saw the girl, but I knew she was mine. Sookie knew, too. I've been sending her flowers, but she keeps sending them back."

"I don't blame her! You think flowers are going to make up for the fact that you threw away ten years of marriage?"

Eric sighed again. "I don't know, Pam. I can't get her to talk to me, so I finally went over to Sam's today. He punched me, as I'm sure you can see. And Sook, well, she pretty much told me she doesn't want to have anything to do with me."

"Did you at least use protection? No, wait, I think I know the answer to that." Pam asked.

"I was completely smashed, Pam. I don't remember."

"Jesus, Eric. Did you at least get tested? If this woman slept around, who knew what she might have! You could've given something to Sookie!"

"I... I just couldn't, Pam. I couldn't face what I had done. I tried to pretend it never happened. Shit, I never thought that I might have something, that I might have passed it on to Sook." Eric sat up. "What do I do, Pam? How do I get her back?"

"I don't think you can, Eric. I think you've just thrown away the best thing that ever happened to you." Pam spun on her heel and stalked out.

…

Pam knocked softly on Sam's door. "Sookie? Sookie, it's me, Pam. Please let me in."

The door opened slowly and Pam was shocked by what she saw. Her normally bright, vibrant sister-in-law looked gaunt. She had enormous dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept in weeks - she probably hadn't, Pam thought - and her usually curvy frame was rail thin.

"Hey, Pam. Umm... why are you here? I already told Eric I didn't want to see him. If you're here to plead his case for him, you can save your breath," Sookie said bitterly.

"I'm not. I'm here to check on you. We've been sisters for over ten years, Sookie. Please, let me in," Pam pleaded softly.

Sookie stood back and let Pam into the condo. She flopped down onto the couch and stared at the floor.

Pam sat next to her, and tentatively took Sookie in her arms. "I'm so sorry, Sookie. I just found out what happened. He's an asshat. I can't believe what he did; I can't even begin to imagine what you must be going through."

Sookie looked at her for the first time. "No, you can't. I can't even believe it myself, most days. But then it all comes back, and it's like it hits me for the first time all over again."

Pam rubbed her back. "I want you to know, Sookie, I didn't know. I swear, he never breathed a word of this to me. I'm stunned."

Sookie sighed. "How is he? Although, it pisses me off that I even want to know."

"He's not good, Sook. It looks like he's been on a bender since you left."

"I don't want to see him, Pam. I don't want to talk to him, and pretty flowers aren't going to make up for the fact that he had a _child_, something I wanted to give him more than anything, with someone else. And then acted like a deadbeat dad for over five years."

"I know, Sookie. I can't... well, I'm just so, so sorry. I want you to know, though, that I'm here for you, whatever you need, just tell me."

"Can you go and get the rest of my clothes? And the knick knacks and things Gran gave me? I've been wearing the same four outfits for weeks."

"Are you sure that's all you want? I'm happy to bring you anything. If you want to get a place by yourself, I can arrange for movers to bring over whatever furniture you want."

"No, I don't want anything else from there. I couldn't look at, much less use, any of the things we bought together. Let him have it all, look at our memories every day."

Sookie looked up and met Pam's eyes. "Pam, I'm filing for divorce."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Just wanted to let you guys know that, in about 2 weeks, I will be going out of town for 6 weeks. I will do my level best to get a bunch more chapters written before I go, and try to keep publishing as I find wi-fi. Thank you all for the great reviews for the last chapter, they really motivate me to write more! As always, everything belongs to Charlaine Harris.

Sookie sat in the waiting room of her doctor's office, Pam sitting next to her and holding her hand. It was so surreal to her that she was even there; she'd been married for so long, she never even thought about STDs, or STIs as they apparently called them these days. And since she never had to check if she was pregnant, she'd never gone through this before. Especially the worrying that she was sick, having to wait to know.

She was pulled back to the present by Pam's voice. "Sookie? They're calling your name, hon. Do you... do you want me to go back with you?"

She looked at her sister-in-law, her friend, and nodded. "I don't think I can do this alone."

Pam took her hand and stood up, gently pulling her through the door. She held her hand while the phlebotomist drew blood, and through the pelvic exam. Sookie went through everything feeling like she was underwater.

"Sook? You're done, hon. The doctor said they'd mail you the results in a few days if you're fine, but they'd call if they found anything. I don't think maybe you registered that."

Sookie shook her head. "No, I didn't. Pam... thanks for coming with me."

Pam gave her a sad smile as she tucked Sookie into her mini-van, fastening the seat belt for her robotic sister. She's always felt that Sookie was her real sister, not just her sister-in-law, and seeing her like this was killing Pam. Still, she knew that what she felt couldn't hold a candle to what Sookie must be feeling. "It's no problem, hon. I'll do anything to try to help you through this."

…

The letter arrived a few days later at Sam's, and Sookie breathed a sigh of relief. She was fine, physically at least. Eric hadn't passed anything on to her except a broken heart.

"Sook? Is that the letter? Is everything okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Everything came back negative."

"Thank God for small favors," Sam breathed. He didn't think he'd know what to do with himself if something had been wrong with Sookie. He didn't want to think about what he'd do to Eric if there was. He'd been so angry for the past few weeks, ever since Sookie arrived at his door a shell of her former self. And he just didn't know what to do with that anger. He'd snapped at people at the bar, he'd flipped off other drivers - not a safe thing to do in L.A. - but he couldn't let Sookie see it.

How that asshole had ever cheated on Sookie was beyond him. She was just... just, so vibrant. Always smiling and taking care of everyone else. Dedicated to her job, her friends, and most importantly, her marriage. She always put Eric first, before everything. To her, he hung the sun _and_ the moon, and she would do anything for him. She dropped his name and his head shots to casting directors she knew, and Sam knew Eric had gotten more than one role because Sookie had wrangled him an audition. Not that he wasn't talented, but most casting directors only considered him as a pretty boy, never for a serious dramatic role.

Sam had always worried that Eric might stray - he was a good looking guy, and there was no shortage of women who cast him second, and third, glances. But he'd never seemed to notice; he only ever looked at his wife. Or at least it had seemed that way.

Sam had had a few whispered conversations with Pam, during the rare times they could get Sookie to sleep, and he found he had an unexpected ally in Eric's sister. She had always seemed so remote and snarky to Sam, but her feelings for her sister-in-law were now plain to see. She checked on Eric occasionally, out of duty, but she either called or stopped by every day to check on Sookie. Sam thought if anyone was more angry than he was, it was Pam.

He sent Sookie off to the bedroom to see if she could nap - he had long since switched to the couch, thinking she'd be more comfortable in the bed - and called Pam.

She answered on the first ring. "She's fine," Sam reported. "The letter came today, everything was clean. I guess it's the least thing Eric did, not passing anything on to his wife."

Pam breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank fuck for that! I told Eric to get tested as well, but I don't think he has. He's just stayed in bed, hoping Sookie will call. He keeps his phone on the charger, afraid he'll miss her if the battery dies. I think he's even missed several auditions. I check the machine when I'm there, and a few different people have called for him, to see where he is. And _she's_ called several times, but he never answers the phone."

"Fuck," Sam growled. "I guess she figures that Sook's out of the picture now, and she can swoop in and snag him."

"I think so," Pam replied. "But I took care of that. I called her back and told her, in no uncertain terms, to leave my brother the hell alone and not be a fucking vulture, hovering over the demise of his marriage. I gave her the name of my lawyer and told her if she wanted child support to call him, and not contact Eric directly again. She hasn't called since, and my lawyer hasn't called to give me any news, so I have no idea what she's up to."

"Dammit all to hell! Jesus, you're right Pam, she is a vulture. Thanks for telling her off and directing her somewhere else. The last thing we need is Eric running off to her. I think that might actually kill Sookie to know that."

"Well, I won't let that happen if there's a damn thing I can do about it," Pam spat.


	10. Chapter 10

_Two weeks later..._

The sound of Pam's heels rang out sharply on the wood floors of what was now just Eric's apartment. As was becoming usual for her visits, she found her brother passed out in the spare bedroom. He had apparently taken it over; Pam never once found him in the master suite. The sheets on the large bed in there hadn't been changed since Sookie had left, her pillow bunched up at the head of bed. Pam suspected that her brother spent quite a bit of his time clutching her pillow, seeking his wife's scent.

After taking a dispassionate look at her brother, sprawled out over the spare bed in just a pair of jeans, she thought for a moment about how best to wake him out of his alcohol induced stupor. She strode into the kitchen, grabbed the mop bucket from under the sink, filled it with water, then unceremoniously proceeded to dump the whole bucketful on his head.

Eric came sputtering back to consciousness. "Pam, what the hell!" he yelled.

"Good afternoon," she sang out in a mock-cheerful voice. "I see you've been taking my suggestions of, oh, I don't know, a shower and maybe a shave to heart."

"Fuck off, Pam," he growled.

"No, Eric, this time I won't. This has gone on long enough. Get your ass out of bed, go take a shower and at least wash your hair. Quite frankly, you stink."

"I just don't have the energy, Pam," he groaned, sinking back down onto the soggy pillow.

"Okay, Eric, _enough_! I know you're going through a shit time, but it's a shit time of your own making. However, if you want to keep a roof over your head, you'll take my advice. Bills are stacking up everywhere, and there's a notice outside the door that your rent is past due. You've missed I-don't-know how many auditions, and at the rate you're going, what little reputation you've built up in this town will be gone. You'll be labeled as unreliable and basically, un-hireable." She turned and strode into the master bedroom, grabbed some clean jeans and a t-shirt for her brother, then marched back into the spare room.

Throwing the clothes at him, she ordered, "NOW."

Eric, realizing she wasn't going to go away this time, finally stood up - his head spinning from a left-over beer buzz and pounding with the start of one whopper of a hangover. He grabbed the clothes his sister held out to him and stumbled towards the bathroom.

"Excellent!" Pam gave a shark like grin. "When you're done, come in to the kitchen."

Eric made his way to the master bathroom, turned on the shower, and when the water was warm enough, stuck his tall body under the spray, head first. He gingerly washed his hair, scrubbed up, and let the water run over him. Unbidden, the memory came to his mind of the last time he'd seen his wife standing under this very spray, and he shuddered, seeing her face in his mind, so hurt and full of pain. The thought made him jump out of the shower as if the water had suddenly turned scalding. Drying off hastily, he grabbed his razor and went into the guest bath to try to tame his month's worth of beard.

Staring back at him in the mirror was a man he didn't recognize. Hair clean but unkempt, badly in need of a cut. Eyes sallow, with bloated bags underneath him. Pale skin, and if he looked close enough, he could see the results of crappy frozen food and not having been to the gym in a month. He shook his head; he always knew his wife was good for him - hell, she was the best person he'd ever met - but he didn't realize just how much she actually did to keep his life running on its track. Leaning against the mirror a moment, he sighed.

How the hell had this happened to him? He had tried to be the best husband he knew how to be. He tried to show her every day that he loved her, but now he realized that for the past six years, ever since the night he had tried so desperately to forget, that much of what he had done had been to atone for his sin.

He never meant to cheat on Sookie - she was the shining light in his life. The business of being an actor was cutthroat, exhausting, and sometimes meant long hours, days, or even weeks away his wife. He'd had plenty of opportunities to cheat - he had a look that women seemed to go for - but he'd had to work hard to win over Sookie. She was leery of dating actors, since they had such a reputation for on-set romances, and it took him several months of wooing before this curvy, vivacious creature had agreed to go out with him.

On their first date, he'd known she was the one. He'd taken her to a beach-side carnival. She'd looked so sexy with her little sundress and sandals, her hair blowing in the wind. She'd had such fun that night, laughing and playing games, and was delighted with the small stuffed whale he'd won for her. He couldn't take his eyes off this beautiful creature all night. After that, he seriously stepped up his game and finally, finally got her to agree to marry him. It had all taken so much effort and work on his part - and he'd never had to work to get a woman before - that he was absolutely elated when she finally agreed to be his, in every way.

And he'd stayed true to her, too. Until that one, very, very long shoot that kept him away from her. She was in a different time zone, and although he called her every day, he sometimes missed her since she was working long hours, too. The long shoot in the desert started getting to him, and finally one night, after not being able to hear his wife's voice for a few days, he'd gone to the bar with some of the rest of the cast and crew. He'd gotten drunker than he had in years, which was a huge tactical mistake on his part.

Felicia had been sniffing around him for months. No matter how many times he told her he was married, and faithful to his wife, it never seemed to faze her. Hell, she even seemed to take it as a challenge. He'd known she was at the bar that night, but she was flirting with one of the crew, and he tried to ignore her as he sat propped against the bar, drinking himself silly.

He woke the next morning with no idea where he was, or how he'd gotten there. Struggling to focus, he realized he was in a hotel room, but it wasn't his own. With a growing sense of dread, he looked to the other side of the bed and saw the long, tawny body of Felicia asleep next to him. His body recoiled on him, and he stumbled to the bathroom and began to vomit, violently.

When he'd come home from the shoot, his wife had cooked a special welcome-home dinner and was wearing his favorite red lace teddy. He'd grabbed her up and crushed her to him, glad to be able to take in her luscious scent again, and feel her next to him. He glossed over the details of the shoot over dinner, and when they'd finished dessert, Sookie had begun to undress him and stroke him in all the ways she knew he loved.

A fleeting thought crossed his mind that maybe he should tell her, but the thought of losing her kept him from opening his mouth. About six weeks later, while waiting for an audition, he got a call on his cell phone from a number he didn't recognize. He'd thought maybe it was a casting director, since he mostly kept his phone for work purposes, and answered with his usual, "Eric Northman."

Instead of a casting director, it was Felicia on the other end of the line.

"Hello, darling, miss me yet?"

He felt his body recoil a little at the sound of her voice. "No," he said sharply. "What happened was a horrible mistake. Why the hell are you calling me, anyway? How did you get this number?"

"Oh, that wasn't hard, silly. All I had to do was sweet talk the assistant director a bit, and I got your number from the call sheet when he wasn't looking," she purred.

"Right. Anyway, why are you calling?"

"Well, honey," - he hated the sound of that word coming from her; it only sounded right coming from his wife's sweet Southern drawl - "it seems you've left me with a little surprise."

"And that might be?" he asked coldly.

"I'm late, Eric. I took a test, and its positive. I'm pregnant. And it's yours."

His vision seemed to swirl, and he dropped his head between his knees as he gasped for air. Finally, he had gotten enough control over himself to ask, "What makes you think it's mine? I know for a fact you slept your way through half the crew, some of the cast, and apparently the A.D. as well."

"Oh, a girl just knows..." she trilled.

He realized he had to try to take the situation in hand. "Look, like I said, there's no way I think it's mine. If you think this is some way to try to trap me, you're sorely mistaken. I love my wife, I'm not leaving her, and this kid could be anyone's. Now, do NOT call me again. I never want to see you, hear your voice, or possibly even live in the same zip code as you, ever again." He'd snapped his phone shut, and for the first time in a long time, he'd prayed.

What he'd said seemed to get through to her, or maybe she finally conceded it could be someone else's baby. At any rate, he hadn't heard from her since. Shaking his head to clear the memories from it, he stepped out of the bathroom and found his sister waiting for him at the dining room table.

"Well, now you look _much_ better," she said.

"Great," he said sarcastically. "Look, Pam, I know you well enough to know you aren't just here out of the goodness of your heart - you want something. What is it?"

"Actually, I do want to something - to give you something."

"What is it?" he asked warily. She stood, and pulling open her giant handbag, she took out an envelope and slapped it against his chest.

"Consider yourself served," she replied coldly, and strode out.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Ok, so I really know nothing about divorce law, since I've never been married. So what is said here is mostly gleaned from TV, and a few friends' divorces. Also, I'm pretty sure that the papers would have to be served by a Sheriff or a licensed process server, but for the purposes of this story it seemed better to have Pam do it. I have to admit, I do love this Pam!_

_One week previously..._

Sookie sat in the waiting room of Cataliades Law Firm. She couldn't believe she was actually here. That she was going to divorce Eric. When she got married, she really thought it would be "until death do us part." Then again, she'd believed that part about forsaking of all others, too. She truly thought Eric meant it, as well. Sam had stood as her "Man of Honor," and Eric had Pam as his "Best Woman." Unconventional, but it worked for them.

"Mrs. Northman?" She was pulled out of her reverie by the voice of her soon-to-be lawyer, Damon Cataliades. She really knew nothing about divorce attorneys, but Amelia had sworn this guy was the best.

"Ms. Stackhouse, please. I'm reverting to my maiden name," she replied.

"I apologize. Please step inside my office."

The lawyer was short, round, and looked kindly. But, according to Amelia he was tough as nails in the courtroom. She stepped inside his office and was immediately hit with the scent of leather-bound books. It was a smell she'd always loved, and the thought crossed her mind that maybe this was a good omen. She took a seat in front of the lawyer's desk, and he sat behind it.

"So, I gather that you want to divorce your husband on the grounds of adultery, is that correct?" he asked.

"Yes. My husband cheated on me a number of years ago, and it's just come to light. The "union" - she used air quotes - resulted in a child, which I wasn't aware of either. Apparently he never acknowledge the child as his, or paid any sort of child support."

"I see... and how long were you married?"

"Just a bit over ten years ago. He cheated about six years ago. The child is five," she responded.

"Alright, well my next question is, what do you want out of your divorce?" he asked.

"Nothing," she stated firmly. "I just want all this to be over so I can try to get on with my life."

"Ms. Stackhouse - and I can certainly take care of your name change papers, if you wish - I strongly advise against that. You spent a decade of your life devoted to this marriage. You deserve something out of it so you can start the rest of your life. What I would recommend is that you and your spouse sell off everything accumulated jointly, and you receive half the profits. Are you staying at a hotel?"

"No, I've been staying with a friend, but I can't crash at his place forever," she replied.

"Well, then you will need funds with which to find yourself a new home, furnishings, etc. Did you and your husband jointly own any property?"

"No, we just lived in an apartment," she answered.

"Well, then, what did you acquire during your marriage?"

"Well, we bought all the furniture - well, I paid for most of it, my husband is an actor and when we were just getting started, he wasn't bringing in much money. He does a bit better now, in fact a few years ago he treated himself to his dream car, a Corvette. So, the living room set, the bedroom set, a bed for the guest room, and the dining room table. Plus, new sheets, blankets, dishes, that sort of thing."

"I see. And what do you drive?" the lawyer asked.

"I drive a Chevy Aveo. It's small, but it gets great gas mileage, and I have to do a lot of driving for my job."

"And what is your occupation?"

"I'm a prop master for a film company. I keep track of all the props used in scenes, make sure everything is consistent with continuity, that sort of thing. In fact, I met my husband on a film set." Sookie was aware that she sounded a lot calmer than she felt, but she had made up her mind that this was her only course of action, so she used her Stackhouse resilience to "man up," as the saying goes. Stackhouse women did NOT back down from a challenge; then again, Stackhouse women didn't get divorced, either.

The lawyer looked thoughtful for a moment. Finally, he said, "This is what I propose. We will seize all your joint property, and it will be sold at auction. I will, of course, oversee this for you, to make sure you are fairly compensated. Of course, I recommend _all_ joint property is sold. Is your name on the title of the car?"

"Well, yes. We are named jointly on both car titles, actually. But... you really want to take his Corvette?" she asked slowly.

"Oh, indeed. Not only will that bring in the most revenue, but it will also hit your husband where it hurts. We can sell your vehicle as well, and you could buy something perhaps a bit more comfortable."

Sookie thought for a moment. That car was Eric's baby. Well, technically, he had another baby, but he didn't treat her in any way close to the way he did that car. She thought about all the pain she'd felt finding out that he had cheated, pain that she still felt.

She looked at the lawyer, her mind made up. "Ok. Let's hit him where it hurts. Take the Corvette, too."

"Excellent. I will draw up the divorce papers immediately and get them filed, then hire a repossession company to seize all the home furnishings worthy of resale - the furniture sets and the like. I will have them stored in a storage facility until the auction. I will also hire an auto repossession specialist, to take custody of the car. Is there anything you want to keep from the house, mementos, that sort of thing?"

"No, I already had my sister in law go and get everything I wanted," she answered.

"Your sister in law?" The lawyer seemed a bit astonished.

"Yes, we've always been very close. She is furious with her brother for what he's done, and has made it clear that even if I divorce him, I'm keeping her." She gave a wan smile. "In fact, she's even asked if she could serve him the divorce papers herself."

"Well, that is certainly unusual, but it is excellent for you that you have a strong ally. Having her serve the papers is unorthodox, but I don't see why it couldn't be done," he mused. "I can have the papers drawn up and ready for you to sign in about a week. Does that work for you?"

"Yes. The sooner this is all over and done with, the better," she said firmly.

The lawyer smiled, and a look crossed his face. It was the sort of look that said he loved a challenge, and for the first time, Sookie could see how he would be formidable in court. "Excellent."


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N I know this is another fairly short one, but we need to see how Eric's taking all of this. As always, everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. Even the Corvette._

_Three weeks later..._

Eric had just about finished dressing for his first audition in weeks, when there was a knock at the door. He went into the entry way to answer it. Several large men stood on the stoop.

"Yes? Can I help you?" he asked.

"Mr. Northman? Eric Northman?" the guy in the front of the group asked.

"Yes, that's me. What is this all about?"

The man handed him a piece of paper. "Your wife's attorney has hired us to take possession of all your joint property."

Eric stared at the paper blankly, unable to really read it as the words jumbled before his eyes. The men pushed past him into the apartment. "She... Sookie wants all of our things?" he asked dumbly.

The men began to pick up the living room furniture and carry it outside to a waiting van. The head guy answered him.. "Yes, Ms. Stackhouse has requested that all the joint property be sold at auction, and the proceeds will be split."

Eric stood there, staring, as most of his apartment was carried outside. Then something the man had said hit him. "Ms. Stackhouse? Her _name_ is Mrs. Northman."

"Not for long," the man replied. "I guess she's going back to her maiden name."

Eric sat down in the nearest armchair, hard. His head was spinning. This was really happening. He had hoped when he got the divorce papers last week that she would cool off, once she had some time to really think, but it looked like she was serious about it. He couldn't believe it when Pam had come and packed up all of Sookie's clothes, and a number of things her Gran had given her. She even had a list. He was truly stunned - this was so unlike Sookie, to do something like this; she had always said she married him for life. Joked that he was stuck with her. But it was serious to him - he _wanted_ to be "stuck" with her for the rest of his life. He really couldn't imagine life without her. 'Oh, fuck,' he thought. 'What the hell am I going to do with the rest of my life without her?'

A mover came and stood next to the chair Eric was sitting in. "Sorry, buddy, but this has to go, too." Eric stood, in a daze, as the man carried it out.

…

Later that night, Eric was sitting on the floor in his now empty living room. All that was left were his clothes and a few small tables he already owned when they got married. He had never made it to his audition that day... he had wandered through his empty apartment, now bare of anything and everything they had picked out together, and anything remotely associated with Sookie. The only personal things she had left behind were framed photos of them together, and a box of photos she had never gotten around to framing or putting in an album. Oh, and the albums were left behind, too. It seemed she wanted no reminders of their marriage, of him.

He was going through the box of pictures, each one more painful than the last, when there was another knock at the door. 'What now?' he thought. He crossed the room and yanked the door open. "Yes?" he asked sharply.

"Eric Northman?"

He sighed. "Yes, but there's nothing left to take. Look around."

"Nope, there's one thing left to take. I'm here to take possession of the 2008 Corvette that's parked outside. Now, we can do this the easy way, where you give me the keys, or we can call a locksmith to get into the car, and a wrecker to tow it. You'll be charged for their time. Which is it?"

"You're taking my CAR? What the... how in the hell am I supposed to get around?" he snapped angrily.

"Take the bus," the guy replied sharply. "Now, are you going to give me the keys, or do we have to yank it up by the back bumper?"

"No... don't damage the car, that car is my baby. Here..." he took the keys out of his pocket and handed them over in a daze.

As the men loaded the car onto a trailer bed, he realized what he had said. That car was his baby. A _baby_. It finally clicked in his mind what he had done, how badly Sookie must be hurting. "Oh, Jesus," he whispered. "My _wife_ didn't get to have my baby. Oh, my God."

He slumped down the wall and back onto the floor. And for the first time since all this horrible mess started, he finally allowed himself to cry. Sobs racked his body, and he struggled to breathe. Finally, when he had calmed down, he found his phone on the bathroom counter and scrolled through the numbers of incoming calls until he found the one he wanted.

The person at the other end answered, and he spat, "Why the _hell_ are you doing this to me? You've ruined my life! You've literally taken _everything_ from me. And for what? Why now? Why did you drag me back to your hotel room when you _knew_ I was smashed drunk?"

The voice on the other end chuckled. "That's a lot of questions to answer. Which one do you want me to answer first?"


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: so, okay, I admit that a little portion of this chapter came to me while watching "Toddlers and Tiaras." Those moms are CRAZY! (sorry to any pageant moms out there...) I freely give it all to C.H.

...

When we last left Eric...

_The person at the other end answered, and he spat, "Why the hell are you doing this to me? You've ruined my life! You've literally taken everything from me. And for what? Why now? Why did you drag me back to your hotel room when you knew I was smashed drunk?"_

_The voice on the other end chuckled. "That's a lot of questions to answer. Which one do you want me to answer first?"_

…

"Start with why you dragged me back to your hotel room," he ground out.

"Oh, that's easy. I wanted _you_, and _you_ were making it difficult for me to get you, with your sad line about being faithful to your wife."

"How did this even happen, anyway? Surely I was too drunk to..."

"Oh, your had your beer goggles on, all right, but you were still able to get it up. Nice package, by the way."

"You had your pick of the rest of the cast and crew - hell, the lead actor was single, and I just had a bit part. So, I'll ask again - why _me_?"

"Simple, Eric," Felicia's voice turned hard. "I wanted you because I had decided it was time for me to have a baby. And I wanted a beautiful one. You may have been a bit player, but you were easily the best looking thing on that set. I'd had my eyes open for quite some time, looking for just the right guy. And then, I found you. I knew the first time I saw you that you would make beautiful babies. You just proved so pesky with your stupid _morals_.

So, that night at the bar, once I saw you were hitting them pretty hard, I slipped the bartender a little something to keep serving you as long as you wanted. Once I saw you were pretty well pickled, I called a cab and dragged your tall ass into it. Did you know that you actually called me 'Sookie' during sex? Jesus, just how attached to the little wife's hip _are_ you?"

"My marriage is none of your business! And you still haven't answered how you knew she would be my child, when you'd been cutting a swath through the set," he spat.

"Simple. The night I was with you, I didn't use my diaphragm. I just had to hope and pray that one time would do it. Evidently you have some pretty strong Swedish swimmers!" she tinkled.

"Jesus, Felicia." Eric ran his hand over his face. "So you helped to get me blind drunk, then took advantage of me so you could have a pretty baby?"

"Not a _pretty_ baby, Eric, a _beautiful_ one," she replied. "I could've had a "pretty" baby with anyone. But I knew that our genes, together, would make a truly beautiful child. And they did. She's going to be a _star_, Eric. She's got our looks and our combined talent. She's going to be bigger than either of us could ever dream. I've had her in pageants since she was just months old, and she's won nearly every one she's been entered in. I'm training her in everything - she takes ballet, tap, pretty much any kind of dance class you can think of. She also takes voice lessons and even has a diction coach. I'm starting her early, because I _know_ what potential she has.

When I told you I was pregnant and you said you didn't want to have anything to do with it, that was fine by me. I want to raise April myself, so I can be in charge of _everything_ about her. I don't need her going off to her "dad's" for the weekend, and eating a bunch of crappy sweets. I watch everything that child puts in her mouth, to make sure it's as healthy and organic and as low-cal as I can get. Besides, weekends are for pageants. She really doesn't have _time_ for a father."

"So why the hell did you call me that night to go to the hospital?"

"Simple... April fell on the playground and cut her head open. She'll need some plastic surgery to make sure there are no scars. I hoped you had insurance to help pay for it, since I don't."

"Oh, Jesus fuck, Felicia! That has to be the most twisted reason I've ever heard for having a child! I just... I can't believe you called me for insurance. And how in the hell did you get my cell phone number anyway? I changed it after you called me the first time! So now what, you want money?"

"No, I have plenty of money. My father's a big time investment banker on the East Coast, so we never want for anything. And for the right amount of cash in the right person's pocket... well, getting your new cell number was easy. I always knew how to contact you if I needed to. I even have your wife's number, too. But back to the real question: with me not working as much, I can't get insurance through the actor's guild - don't put in enough hours. I knew your little wife had a steady job as a prop master, so I figured you might have insurance through her. You might as well pay for _something_, after all this time. And _nothing_ is more important than my baby's looks."

"Fuck, Felicia. I feel sick. You're really crazy, you know that? Jesus, you had a kid so you could be a stage mom and what, live vicariously through her? You make me sick. I admit, I knew once I saw the girl that she was biologically mine, but I'm sorry, I just don't feel like I can be a part of her life. I know its not her fault that her mom is bat shit crazy, but... I just can't be her dad. If you want money, fine, call my attorney and we can make arrangements for child support. But I just... can't see her. I know it's not her fault, but she represents the worst thing I ever did, and her very existence has taken everything from me that I held sacred. I just... I don't think I can ever get past that."

"Oh, your bitch of a sister already told me where to get off and gave me her lawyer's info if I wanted child support. But, I heard through the grapevine that the little wife left you, so I figure you're going to be pretty short on money yourself these days, aren't you? With the little cash cow gone?"

"You really are... Jesus, there are no words for you. And stay the fuck out of my marriage, and do NOT call my wife a cow again! We're just... going through a tough time, but I know I'll get her back."

"Sure, hon, keep telling yourself that," Felicia replied, and hung up the phone.


	14. My Beloved Wife  Chapter 14

_A/N: So, now we've heard Felicia's account of what happened, now it's time to hear Eric's. If you guys have any questions about the story, feel free to PM me and I will be sure to answer. I appreciate all your reviews, and many are very thought provoking. I'm not really sure what my end-game is for this story - I had an original idea, but it seems to change as the story grows and develops direction. Right now, I only have the next 2-3 chapters planned out, but I'm sure that as I write more, more direction will come to me - that's been the pattern so far! "My Beloved Wife" is the title of a Natalie Merchant song. I've always loved it, and I thought it was fitting for this chapter. I kind of think that maybe, it's Eric and Sookie's song.  
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The letter arrived in Sam's mail box, with the name "Sam Merlotte" and the address typed out. There was no return address on it. Sam took it inside with the rest of the mail and opened it. Inside was another, smaller envelope, with simply the word "Sookie" written on it. It was sealed.

Sam immediately guessed who it was from. He wasn't sure what to do with it - his first instinct was to run it through the shredder, and never mention it. But then, he realized it _was_ addressed to Sookie, so really it was her decision what to do with it.

He eventually set it out on the coffee table, and stuck a Post-It note on it before he went to work. He simply put: _'Sook - came today. Read if you want, or trash it - it's your decision.'_ He sighed and went out to work.

…

Sookie came home from another long day at the set. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a gin and tonic - with Sam owning a bar, he always had great liquor in the house, she mused. She kicked off her shoes and went to collapse on the couch, wrapping Gran's afghan around her as she did. She was reaching for the remote, to pull up an episode of 'Hoarders' on the DVR - she loved that show, she didn't know why - when she saw the envelope.

Immediately, all thoughts of TV fled her mind. She read Sam's note, pulled it off and stuck it on the table. She picked up the envelope, and turned it over in her hands again and again. She sat there for quite some time, just holding it and thinking over whether or not she wanted to open it. Finally, she went and fixed herself another gin and tonic, and settled down to read what her husband had written her.

It read:

_My Beloved Wife,  
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_I know I've hurt you more than any words can express, and for that I am sorrier than I can ever put into words. Please, just listen to what I have to say._

_I want you to know that I never deliberately set out to cheat on you. We were both working long hours, and after a few days of not being able to actually talk to you on the phone, hear your voice, I was incredibly lonely. I made my first mistake that night: I went out and got drunk. My intent was not to drink myself into a stupor, but just to try to relax and forget about things for a while. I was missing you like crazy, working crazy hours, and I just needed to numb myself a bit._

_Most of the cast was there that night, to let off some steam. Felicia was there as well, but she was flirting with someone else. I've since learned that Felicia paid off the bartender to keep serving me well beyond when I should've been cut off. _

_I freely admit that she had been hitting on me the entire shoot. She was pretty relentless, no matter how many times I made it clear that I wasn't interested. She'd amuse herself with someone in the cast and crew for a while, but she always kept coming back and propositioning me. Sookie, I want you to know that I turned her down each and every time. I told her I already had the only woman I wanted, and that I was faithful to you. Each time I told her, it seemed to make her even more determined to get me to break. But I never did._

_Sookie, I know this part is going to be the hardest to hear, but I called her a few days ago and asked her flat out why she wanted _**_me_**_ so badly. I really still can't believe her answer - she set out to deliberately try and get pregnant with my baby. After I was pretty drunk, she put me in a cab and took me back to her hotel room. _

_I have absolutely no recollection of what happened next, until I woke up the next morning. I saw her there, and I went and threw up. Not from a hangover, but because I was so disgusted by what had obviously happened. I was furious with myself for drinking so much. I was even more furious that she had obviously taken advantage of that fact._

_It was all I could do to wait out the last few days of the shoot. All I could think about was getting home to you. I was going to confess everything to you, and pray for the best. But when I got home, and I saw you had been so sweet, making all my favorite foods and just going out of your way to welcome me home, I just couldn't seem to get the words out. I looked at you, and I realized that not only could I never be without you, but that I could never hurt you so much. I honestly thought I was doing the best thing, to try to spare you the pain - I had to carry it on my own. This was my second mistake. I also admit, I was trying - and kept trying for the years after it happened - to forget what happened, and to be the best husband I could for you. I'd like to think I was successful at being a good husband, even just a little._

_A few weeks after I got home, I was waiting for an audition and my cell phone rang. I didn't know the number, but thought I might be hearing back from an audition, so I answered it. It was Felicia, and she told me she was pregnant. I swear to you, I almost passed out. It was my worst nightmare come true. But then I remembered that I had not been the only guy she'd slept with during the shoot. So I told her I didn't think it was mine and not to contact me again. Then I changed my cell phone number. _

_I didn't hear from her again until the night I got the voicemail. I was just stunned to hear her voice again, and as you know she didn't give any details. But I knew - I had to tell you, I had to finally confess. Not just because she called, but because I knew it was right. _

_I know now that you went to Sam's just on instinct - you've always said that his place was like a second home to you, since he was your only link in L.A. to your home town. I'm sorry I lashed out at you that night, but it's always been clear to me that Sam had feelings for you. I knew, though, after being around you two a little bit, that you didn't feel the same about him as you did about me. Again, I'm sorry I lashed out at you, I was just petrified to see you leaving and wanted you to stay and try and talk things through. _

_After you had been gone a bit, I realized that you would feel like you had to go to the hospital, just to see what was going on. Sookie, when I saw you faint that night, that was the most scared I've ever been. You've always been so strong, and to see you react like that killed me. After you came to and then rushed out, I didn't stay. I didn't talk to Felicia. I knew by looking at her that the girl was mine - and I know you knew, too - but I just didn't care. Compared to what I'd just seen you go through, I was in no place to have a conversation with the woman I hated more than anything. _

_I've since learned that she called me that night, and stayed while you were passed out, because she wanted something from me. Sookie, I was stunned when she told me she just wanted to know if I had insurance. Apparently the child fell on the playground and got a small cut on her head, but it would need plastic surgery to take care. She just wanted my insurance to try to pick up the bill._

_She's told me straight out that she really doesn't want anything to do with me, and she doesn't want me to have anything to do with the child. Evidently she just wanted me for my genes. Sookie, she puts that child in pageants, all these talent lessons, and is planning on trying to get her a career in Hollywood. She really doesn't care about anything else - she just wants to try and grasp at a chance at bigger fame than she ever had. _

_I also want you to know that I never gave her my new cell number - she paid somebody off to get it. She told me she has yours, too, so I beg you - if you get a call from an unknown number, please, please do not answer it. I want to shield you from her in any way that I can. I honestly think she's a little crazy and I don't want her knowing anything about you - where you are, where you work, anything. _

_Pam told me that your tests results came back okay. I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that. I want you to know that I've also gotten tested, and I'm okay as well. Well, I'm not **okay**, but I'm clean. It just honestly never occurred to me that she might have had something, and that I might have unwittingly passed it on to you. I know I've been stupid, and thoughtless, and secretive, but I was just so afraid of losing you. And now, by NOT telling you, I've made it 100 times worth that it might have been if I had confessed to you immediately. I know your heart - you are loving and forgiving, and I should've trusted that we were strong enough for you to forgive me.  
><em>

_Sookie, I know, I KNOW, how horrible this must be for you. I know that you wanted to give me a baby more than anything, but my wife, I SWEAR to you, it never mattered to me that you couldn't. I just wanted you, no matter what happened. I knew the night I first took you out, when I saw you laughing and having so much honest fun, not faking like most women in this town would do, that you were the one. I would have done anything to make you happy - adopting as many kids as you wanted, if that would fulfill your maternal instincts, or just to be the two of us, forever. Because I wanted you, I WANT you, forever. And now, I've taken away your happiness with our marriage.  
><em>

_I will do anything, anything I can to try to make this up to you. I know you can never forget, but I'm begging you to forgive me. I know I will have to earn your trust again, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes, however long it takes, to do that. Sook, this place is so empty without you. And not just because our things are gone, but because YOU are. You made this place a home. _

_My Beloved Wife, please come home. All I do is sit and look at pictures of us, and cry. Please, even if you yell and scream at me, hell, hit me if you need to. Just, please come home. Or at least talk to me. I can't bear the idea of this being the end, of having to try to live the rest of my life without you. Please reconsider the divorce, please, please don't leave me for good. I know I deserve it, but I don't think I can bear it. We can make this work, I know we love each other enough to get through this._

_Your loving husband (and I will ALWAYS be your husband in my heart, even if you do decide to move on without me),_

_Eric_

Sookie quietly folded the letter back up and placed it back in the envelope. She carefully put the envelope in the middle of the coffee table, and just stared.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: So, now Sookie has heard Eric out... do you think he can dig his way out of this hole? Thank you all for your reviews, I really love reading them and they inspire me to keep going. You guys had a much more varied take on his letter than I thought you might!_

_...  
><em>

Sookie and Amelia decided to meet for lunch on one of their rare Saturdays off. Well, more like Amelia decided, and she enlisted Pam and Sam to help convince Sookie to get out of the apartment.

It was a perfect day - sunny, but not too hot - and they decided to sit out on the patio of the Mexican joint they chose. It wasn't much to look at, but they had the best chips and queso in town, and right now Sookie needed some comfort food.

After a few minutes of inhaling the chips in front of her and nursing her Margarita, Amelia finally decided some conversation was in order.

"So, how you doin', hon?"

"Not quite as numb. I went to see your divorce lawyer, and he's recommended that we sell all our joint possessions and split the proceeds. He even convinced me to go after the Corvette." She managed a wry smile.

"That's awesome news, hon! You're taking steps to move forward! And taking his Corvette - that's great! Hit him where it hurts! Let's drink to that!" They clinked their glasses together. "I'd have given anything to see his face when they took the car," Amelia mused. "I wonder what he's thinking of all this?"

"Actually, I know," Sookie responded.

"What? You didn't give in and talk to him, did you?"

"No," she replied. "But I did read this." She pulled the letter out of her purse and passed it over to Amelia to read.

"Oh, God, hon, this has to be the most fucked up situation I've ever heard of," Amelia said when she finished reading.

"I know, right?"

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to stop the divorce proceedings?"

"Ames, I just don't know _what_ to do. I mean, he's the love of my life, but I just don't know if I can get past this, you know? God, I just wish I had someone impartial, you know? Someone to just tell everything to, and have _them_ tell me what to do."

"Honey, you need a shrink," Amelia said, digging through her purse for a scrap of paper and a pen. She found an old deposit slip buried at the bottom, pulled up a number on her cell, the jotted it down and handed it across the table.

"You have a shrink?" Sookie was surprised.

"Honey, this is L.A. _Everybody_ has a shrink. Hell, mine's on speed dial. I think you'll like him. He's very patient and calm, and I just feel like I can tell him anything. He has a very soothing presence. Well, let's move on to happier topics. Have you _seen_ True Blood this season? It's so out there!" And just like that, they were off onto the topics of Weres, shifters, vampires and witches.

…

"Good afternoon, Ms. Stackhouse. My name is Dr. William Compton, but you can call me Bill if you prefer. It makes some of my patients feel more comfortable that way."

"I think I'll stick with Dr. Compton for now, if that's okay with you."

"Whatever makes you more at ease, that's what we'll do."

Sookie's new shrink was about 5'11, with dark hair swept back off his face, and dark, almost black eyes. She judged him to be in his later 30s or early 40s. She fidgeted on the chair in his office - he had offered her the obligatory couch, but she didn't know him well enough to just lie down and tell him everything yet. So she stuck to the chair.

His office was done in soothing beige tones, with dark blue accents. On his shelves, in and around his psychiatry books, he had some antiques, which to Sookie's Southern eyes looked to be Civil War era.

He was looking over the forms she'd filled out in the waiting room. "So I see here that you recently separated from your husband," he said. "And you wrote that he was unfaithful, and there is a child involved?"

"Yes... I just found out about it about 6 weeks ago. I've started divorce proceedings."

"I see... and have you sat down and talked about the situation with him?"

"Not in person, no... but he sent me this." She handed over the letter and the doctor read it, silently.

"Hmmm... it seems that perhaps he is not totally to blame for the situation, if what he says here is true. Do you have reason to believe him?

"I don't know... I used to believe that we had a happy marriage and didn't keep secrets from each other. Now, though, I just don't know. I just left, and have been staying with a friend since, although I have started apartment hunting."

"I see... and do you have a history of running away from things you don't want to deal with?"

"I don't think I do - I like to think that I try to meet things head on."

"But you won't meet his adultery - which he may have had no control over - head on?"

She sighed. "It's not so much that Eric cheated... we could maybe work on that. But this child... I don't think I can deal with knowing that there's a child out there, his child, and I couldn't give it to him." She began to cry, and the doctor wordlessly handed over a box of tissues.

When she seemed to get herself together, he asked, "You say you _couldn't_ give him a child. Do you have reason to believe you are infertile?"

"I had a... great uncle who abused me as a child. When my grandmother found out what was going on, she took me to the doctor, who said that my cervix was too damaged to carry a baby, that I would miscarry if I did get pregnant."

"I see. And this uncle, what happened to him?"

"My grandmother banished him from our lives - mine, hers and my brother's."

"And what of your parents?" he asked.

"They died when I was very young. A drunk driver ran a red light and hit them head on."

"So your grandmother raised you?"

"Yes, she took in both my brother and I. It wasn't easy, but she did her best. We wanted for nothing - food, school clothes, love - but things were tight and we didn't have a lot of luxuries."

"And where were you raised? Here in California?"

"No, in Louisiana, a little town called Bon Temps."

A little smile crossed his face. "I happen to be from Louisiana myself. I thought I recognized the accent."

"I guess that explains all your Civil War memorabilia, then," she joked.

"Yes, it is something of a hobby of mine. But back to you - how did you come to leave Louisiana and end up in L.A.?"

"My best friend Sam and I - he's who I've been staying with - we figured out pretty fast that there wasn't much in Bon Temps for us. Neither of us had the money to go to college, so we pooled our money together and came out here. We neither of us had any plans to be an actor, but I knew I wanted to work in the industry somehow, and Sam wanted to learn to be a chef.

I got a job as a gofer for a production studio, and they quickly realized that I was organized enough, so they trained me to be a prop master. Sam never did become a chef, but he's half owner in a bar/restaurant."

"I see. So your job is to keep thing organized, be detail oriented?"

"Yes, it makes me happy to know that I've got everything just where it needs to be."

"So keeping things 'in their place' makes you feel good about yourself? Do you think you might have control issues? That you didn't have control over what happened to you as a child, so you try to keep control, to have so much order in your life now as a coping mechanism?"

"Well, I... I never thought of it that way."

"Do you think it's your lack of control over what has occurred in your marriage that is causing you to run away, rather than deal with the situation head on?"

"I never thought of it like that," Sookie confessed.

"Well, that's why I'm here. To help you see things in a new way, and hopefully cope with this situation as rationally and as healthily as possible. Now, we're out of time for today. Shall we say, same time next week?"

Sookie nodded, her head suddenly spinning in new directions.

"Excellent, then, until next week."


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: So what did we think of Dr. Compton? I have to admit, when that idea came to me, it just kind of clicked. I always thought one of the reasons Sookie liked Bill in the books, besides his quiet mind, was because he was a soothing presence overall - calm, quiet voice, still, and he helped her get control over her telepathy, which was, in essence, helping her mind. I could totally see Bill as a shrink! Now, you guys probably won't be happy for me with this chapter - but it's important to remember that Sookie is still running pretty much on instinct. She isn't being proactive on her own - she let Amelia lead her in seeing a divorce attorney and a shrink - she's being reactive. And I think we all know what Book Sookie does when faced with something she doesn't want to deal with head on. Also, the TB mention in the last chapter may have struck you as odd -since these ARE the same characters - but I just couldn't resist. And I've finally, FINALLY learned to think of the show and the books as two distinct entities - the show should probably read, "LOOSELY based on the novels by Charlaine Harris" now. LOL  
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...

"So how'd the therapy go?" Pam shouted over the din at her nightclub, Stiletto. Sookie had always teased her that the name sounded like a strip club, but Pam just shrugged it off and said, "Why shouldn't I name my place after something I love? After all, the profits from the bar will go to pay for more shoes, anyway!"

"It went pretty well!" Sookie shouted back. "The doctor seems nice, like someone I could really talk to. He already has me thinking on some things - some behaviors of mine - after just one session!"

"I told you he was good! Nothing but the best for us, baby!" Amelia clinked her Cosmopolitan to Sookie's gin and tonic.

"Okay, so far your recommendations have been good. Don't let it go to your head though!"

"I think her three Cosmos have already gone to her head," Pam shouted.

"Hey, Sooks! A totally hot guy is checking you out!" Amelia squealed.

"What? Where?" Pam narrowed her eyes.

"Over by your over-the-top shoe fountain, Pam," Amelia teased.

Sookie turned and looked and sure enough, there was a really tall, broad shouldered guy with dark hair giving her the once over. When he saw her looking at him, he started weaving his way through the crowd to their table.

"Hey, pretty lady. Name's Alcide!" he shouted. "Mind if I sit down?"

Sookie just shrugged. She really wasn't at the place where she might consider dating again, but there was no harm in talking to the guy.

"Those are some really nice rings. You married, I take it? What're you doing here?"

"Figure that out on your own, brainiac? What, can't married women go out and let their hair down occasionally?" Pam replied before Sookie had a chance to. "Actually, how the hell did you get in here, anyway? I have a plaid ban in my bar! I'm seriously going to have a chat with the bouncer for this!"

"Separated, actually. Getting divorced." Sookie finally spoke up.

"Oh, good. Well, not that's it's good for you, but it's good for me. You look like an angel sent to me straight from heaven!" Alcide gave a big smile, and Sookie started to feel just a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh, Jesus - does that line actually ever work on anyone?" Amelia asked.

"I'm hoping it works on this pretty lady right here," he replied. "Can I buy you a drink?"

Sookie pointedly looked down at her mostly full G&T. "I already have one, but thanks anyway," she answered politely.

"Well, can I have a dance?" he persisted.

She sighed. "You know, I really just came out tonight to try to have a good time with my girlfriends, but thanks."

"Oh, c'mon sugar, surely just one dance won't kill you!"

"The lady already said no," a voice from behind Sookie said frostily. "I suggest you leave."

"Oh yeah? And who are you that you know what's best for her?" Alcide asked aggressively.

"I'm her husband," said Eric.

...

Sookie had frozen at the sound of his voice, but his words triggered her fight or flight instinct. Her mind quickly ran through a thousand options, some cutting remarks, and a few choice words that would make her Gran want to wash her mouth out with soap. She chose the one most familiar to her. She fled, making her way through the crowd towards the ladies' room as fast as her heels could carry her.

…

"Sookie? C'mon out, hon. Please. I can't stand to hear you cry like that!" Amelia begged to the locked stall door. Finally, when she was down to just sniffles, Sookie emerged.

She shot a dirty look at Pam. "What the hell, Pam? I thought you were my friend! How could you do this to me?" she cried.

"Sook, I swear I didn't know he was going to be here tonight. I mean, I've been trying to get him to get out of the house some, but I had no idea he would somehow choose the same night as you!" Pam was actually wringing her hands.

"I can't... I just can't see him yet," Sookie whispered.

"Ok, hon, don't worry. We'll get you out of here and take you home," Amelia soothed.

"Yes, come down the hall to my office and I'll call you a cab. Amelia's had a few too many to drive, I think," Pam offered.

Sookie allowed Amelia to put an arm around her shoulders and gently led her out of the stall. Her mascara was running all over her face, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of there. However, once the ladies' room door swung open, it revealed Eric pacing in tight circles outside.

Sookie's knees went a little weak and Amelia had to switch her arm to around Sookie's waist to help support her.

"Sookie? Please, just listen to me, I -" he started to plead, but Amelia cut him off.

"Don't you think you've done enough? Who do you think you are, anyway, pulling that caveman shit?" Amelia spat, moving Sookie down the hall and away from Eric as fast as she could, Pam following behind her.

"She's my wife!" Eric cried.

"Not for long!" Amelia replied.

"Sookie, please, just talk to me!" Eric pleaded.

The three women got down the hall to Pam's office, Eric tagging helplessly behind, and Amelia led Sookie over to the couch. She'd started crying in earnest again when she'd heard Eric's voice, so Amelia started searching Pam's office for some tissues - Pam wasn't exactly a crier, so she didn't know if she'd even find any.

"Sookie-" Eric started, but Pam put a hand on his chest.

"Not now, Eric. Go home," she said, and shut the door on him.


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Well, you guys *did* ask for Alcide, but I know that's not exactly what you were wanting. I've just never been able to stand Alcide, personally - I always thought he was only marginally better than Quinn! *shudders, thinking of "Babe" and his bald head* BUT, you overall responded much more positively than I thought you would with the last chapter! Anyway, here's more with the good doctor..._

"So, you saw your husband last night for the first time in weeks. How did that make you feel?" Dr. Compton asked.

"Hurt... scared... panicked... it was like a nightmare," she replied.

"Did he do anything untoward? Threaten you, abuse you physically, verbally?"

"No, he just... well, there was this guy who was hitting on me pretty persistently, and I guess Eric saw it, so Eric told him to leave me alone."

"Was he violent towards the other man?"

"No, Eric's never been a violent person."

"So what did you do when you were faced with him?"

"I... I ran," she whispered.

"I see... just the type of instinctive reaction we discussed in your last visit, yes?"

"I know, and I'm sorry... I just couldn't seem to move for a minute while I thought of all these things - throwing my drink on him, yelling at him - but then I just... I just ran. I'm sorry... I really want to work on it, I promise," she whispered.

"Do not apologize - it can take years to un-learn instinctive behaviors. Where did you go when you fled?"

"The ladies' room. I knew that was probably the one place I was safe from him. I just locked myself into a stall and cried."

"And then what happened?"

"Amelia - my friend - talked me into coming out. My sister in law, Pam, was in the bathroom, too - this was at her club - and I lashed out at her, thinking she had purposely invited Eric on the same night she knew I would be there."

"And had she?"

"She swore she hadn't, and I've never known Pam to lie. Pam offered to let me wait in her office while she called a cab - Amelia had had a few drinks - but when we opened the door Eric was outside."

"I see. How did he look? How was he reacting?"

"He didn't look good. And he seemed... panicked, I guess. He kept pleading with me to talk to him."

"And did you?"

"No. Amelia sort of drug me down the hall to Pam's office, and Pam basically told him to leave. They got me back to Sam's and I finally got to sleep about 4 a.m."

"Did it ever occur to you to wonder what _he_ was doing in a nightclub?"

"Pam said she had encouraged him to get out of the house a bit. We used to go to her club quite a bit when we were together - we both love to dance."

"Then it's possible that he simply went there because he felt comfortable in that environment - a 'safe' place to try and ease back into being more social?" the doctor suggested. "Especially seeing as the club belongs to his sister and you both have memories there."

"I hadn't stopped to think of that, but I suppose that could be true."

"That's why you're here, Sookie, to learn to see things in new ways, think of things you may not have considered before. Now, how do you feel now that you've had a few days to think things over?" he asked.

"I just... I don't know. I wish I could talk to my Gran about this. I haven't told her anything yet, I've sort of been avoided her calls because I knew she would be able to tell from my voice that something was wrong, and she'd get it out of me in minutes."

"Would it be so bad if she did know?"

"I just feel so ashamed."

"Why is that? It seems to me that you've done nothing to really be ashamed of," he responded.

"Because... because... I was raised that you stood by your man, and all that. No one in my family has ever been divorced, and I'm afraid she'll judge me."

"I see. When is your current job scheduled to be completed?"

"A few more weeks, why?"

"Because," he said slowly, as if thinking over his answer, "I think you need to go home for a bit. Go back to Louisiana. Face your grandmother. I doubt she'll be as judging as you expect, and I don't think you can truly begin to process the situation, make solid decisions for yourself - not just do as friends guide you, however well intentioned they may be - until you do so. The morals you were raised with are conflicting with your instincts right now. It sounds like your grandmother has always acted as your true conscience, and I believe you need to seek her counsel before you will ever truly be able to act for yourself. Is this something you would consider doing?"

"I... I guess so. I mean, I don't want to, but I know I can't just keep running from everything forever."

"I think you may find that your grandmother will support you no matter what decisions you eventually make, but I think not consulting her - confessing, as you put it - will create a serious stumbling block for you to overcome on your path to deal with this situation. Perhaps think it over, and if you feel you can do so, go home," he said simply.


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Wow, I never really expected this story to go this far, chapter wise. I have a number of ideas for the next few chapters, and they'll probably spark some more since this story line is far from finished. Today is Sunday, and I leave on Wednesday for my vacation. I'll try to churn out enough chapters to keep posting every day until then, and then I should be able to churn out a few on the plane. The first friend I'm staying with has internet access, so I should be able to keep posting. But, around the 28th I'll be staying with a friend without net access, so no posts from then until I get back Aug. 8. :( Don't worry, though, I'll probably churn out a few more chapters on the flight back!_

_A number of you asked/mentioned in reviews about "Dr Bill's advice... well, can you tell I've gone to some therapy? LOL At least its paying off somehow!_

_Now, on with the show..._

The next few weeks seemed to fly by. She wrapped her shoot on the Harrison Ford job (getting a hug from him on the last day!) and told her production company she needed some time off for personal reasons. She hadn't ever had a real vacation since she'd started working there several years before, so they were happy to grant her leave. They assured her they would have work for her as soon as she was ready to come back.

She continued to see Dr. Compton each week, and she was beginning to feel stronger and more in control of her life. They started touching on the subject of her childhood abuse, and she found she was able to be more open in discussing it. She'd always just given a bare-bones answer on the subject before, and made it clear she didn't want to elaborate. Even Eric didn't know all the sordid details, and he knew more than most. Dr. Compton had made sure she had his number in her cell phone, and that she knew she could call him during her vacation if she found she needed to talk.

She and Amelia went apartment hunting together on the weekends, and they decided that once she picked a place, it would be rented in Amelia's name. She intended to take Eric's advice to heart about not letting Felicia know where she lived, and she also changed her cell phone number since he mentioned that Felicia had somehow obtained it.

Soon, it was time for Sam to drive her to the airport. "You stay as long as you need, cher, and you know that when you come back you have plenty of time to find the right place - I'm not going to kick you out," he joked.

"Thank you, Sam, for all you've done. I really just can't say thank you enough," she replied.

"Not a problem," he said, getting her bags out of his trunk for her. "Be sure to give Gran a hug for me."

"Will do," she replied. They gave each other one last hug and she headed inside to check in.

…

She landed in Shreveport and rented a car to take drive herself to Bon Temps. She could've had Jason come and pick her up, but she wasn't ready to answer his questions as to why Eric wasn't with her. She never lied to her family - she tried never to lie at all - so she didn't want to make up excuses. And really, finding out his brother in law had been unfaithful wasn't exactly something she wanted him to learn while he was driving. Jason had a temper and was very protective of his baby sister, so she wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't turn the truck around and take the next flight to L.A. to punch the daylights out of Eric.

She drove the familiar route home, noting that it had been years since she'd been back. She'd really left it too long, but there always seemed to be a reason to delay a visit - she had a shoot, Eric had a shoot, etc. She tried to talk to her Gran on the phone each week, but she hadn't talked to her since this whole nightmare started.

She pulled up the gravel drive on Hummingbird Lane, noting that the farmhouse she grew up in was in need of some repairs. She'd try to do what she could while she was here, and maybe contract Terry Bellefleur to do the ones that were beyond her. The place could definitely use a coat of paint, and there were some shingles that needed to be replaced on the roof. The gutters needed cleaning, and the porch swing looked like it could use some paint as well. She had a spark of irritation at her brother, not helping Gran keep the place up better. The yard, however, was immaculate as always, so at least she knew he'd been doing something.

Her Gran heard the unfamiliar car coming up the drive and already had the door opened to greet her visitor. When she saw Sookie get out of the car, she squealed, "My baby!" and hurried toward her as fast as she could. Sookie met her halfway and found herself on the receiving end of a huge hug. She noted sadly how much older Gran looked since her last visit, and since neither Gran nor Jason were good with technology, she hadn't even seen many pictures since she'd been gone.

Once Gran released her from her iron grip, she looked around. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Where's Eric? Why isn't he with you? Is he working? Why are you so thin?"

Sookie sighed. "I don't really know if Eric's working, Gran. That's the reason I'm here, actually - we've been separated for about two months now."

Gran looked surprised. "Sookie Northman! Why didn't you tell me sooner? What happened? Have you talked at all?"

"Let's go inside, Gran, and I'll tell you what happened," she replied.

…

Sitting at their familiar kitchen table, handed a glass of lemonade - Gran's cure-all - Sookie began to recount the tale.

"Eric... well, he cheated on me, Gran. Several years ago, but he just told me about it."

"Eric? I would never have expected that from him. Honey, he adores you! What on Earth was he thinking? I knew something was wrong when I didn't hear from you the past few weeks, but honestly, I never thought that might be the reason."

Sookie handed over the letter. "We haven't talked since I left - I've been staying with Sam. But he sent me this."

Gran read the letter silently, then folded it back up. "I see. He mentions in here that all your things are gone - sounds like all the furniture?"

"That was my divorce attorney's advice. He had all our joint possessions seized and put into storage until they can be sold at auction and the proceeds split. I've been staying with Sam, but I'm apartment hunting now."

Gran gasped. "A divorce attorney? Honey, are you planning to divorce him?"

"That's the plan right now," Sookie replied. "I've also been seeing a psychiatrist - you'd like him, he's from Louisiana, too - and we've been working together to try to figure out what I really want to do. I'm just so torn, Gran. If he had just cheated on me, I could maybe forgive it and we could work things out. But, a child, Gran. I just don't know if I can accept that he has a child out there somewhere."

"From Louisiana? Which part? What's this doctor's name?" Gran asked.

Sookie laughed. "Sooo not the point right now, Gran. But he's the one who encouraged me to come back here to talk to you, see if you could help me figure things out."

Gran laid her hand over Sookie's softly. "Child, I'll do anything in my power to help you, you know that."

…

After Gran fixed them an enormous lunch, they went into the living room to try to relax a bit. Gran caught her up on local gossip and they had some mindless, easy conversation. It was the first time since she learned about the infidelity that she could truly put it from her mind. They watched a little TV together that night, and Sookie went to upstairs to sleep in her old bedroom.

She remembered Eric helping her switch out her old single bed for the double one in the guest room, the first time they visited after they got married. They had laughed at Eric's long legs hanging over the edge of the bed; he'd actually had to take the foot board off the bed frame so he wouldn't have to sleep with his legs scrunched up. It was much smaller than their usual king, but they just wrapped themselves up in each other to fit.

After a shower and her nighttime routine, Sookie lay down and sighed, centering herself in the middle of the bed. She pulled the old quilt up over her and settled down to sleep.

The next morning, she was awakened by the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying. She put on some clothes and combed her hair, putting it up in a quick ponytail, not bothering with makeup and went downstairs.

In the kitchen, she found Gran making bacon, grits and pancakes.

"Gran, we can't possibly eat this much food! It's way too much for just the two of us!" she protested.

"Nonsense, honey. We need to put a little meat back on your bones, and good ole' Southern food is the way to do it! Plus, your brother usually stops by here for breakfast, and you know how that boy can eat."

Right on cue, the screen door banged and Jason came into the kitchen. He saw his sister and whooped, grabbing her up and spinning her around.

"Sookie! Why didn't you tell me you were back, girl? I'd have come to get you at the airport. Where's Eric, still sleepin'?"

"No, Jase, Eric didn't come with me this trip," she answered, still a little dizzy from all the spinning. Gran had put all the food on the table, so they all sat down to eat.

"So why's Eric not here with ya?" Jason asked with his mouth full of pancake.

Gran scolded him. "Jason Stackhouse! You know I raised you not to talk with your mouth full! Now, Jason, the reason Eric isn't here is because he and Sookie are having some problems. She's come back here to think some things over."

"Problems? He hit you, Sook? If he did, his ass is mine!"

Sookie sighed. "No, Jason, he didn't hit me. He had a one night stand a few years ago, and I just learned about. He has a daughter from it, but he never really knew about her until recently."

"He cheated on you! Oh, his ass is sooo mine! He better not show his face around here or he'll get it rearranged!"

Gran jumped in again. "Jason, you will do no such thing. We're not going to just jump to blamin' Eric, we're just going to try to help Sookie in any way we can." Sookie gave her grandmother a grateful look for trying to smooth things over.

Jason sighed, clearly angry still. "Alright, Sook. Whatever you need, just ask." With that, they settled down to finish breakfast.

…

After breakfast, Sookie walked Jason out to his truck. "Jase, you think you could take a little time off work?" she asked.

"Sure, I guess so. Why?"

"I want to try to do some repairs on Gran's house, and it will be easier if you help me," she replied.

"Repairs? What do you wanna do, Sook?"

"Well, it needs paint, for a start. Some shingles need work and the gutters need clearing. And I'm sure there are some things inside that need doing, too."

"Jeez, Sook. I'm sorry. When you see the house all the time, you don't notice little things going wrong, you know? But sure, I'll help you. We'll try to get it fixed up. What we can't do, Terry Bellefleur can. He can fix just about anything."

Sookie privately thought that the reason Jason didn't see all the things that needed to be done was probably because he was too busy tom catting around, but she replied, "That's what I was thinking, too."

"Ok, well, let me tell my boss that you've come to visit, and I should be able to be here tomorrow and we can get started, okay?"

She gave him a hug and told him that whenever he could get time off was fine. She waved as he backed down the drive, her hand shading her eyes from the bright Louisiana sun.


	19. Chapter 19

The next morning, Sookie was up early. By the time Jason had pulled up around 8 a.m., she had already finished weeding the garden and had dragged the porch swing out onto the lawn and was working on sanding it down to repaint. She was working by hand with sandpaper, and Jason jumped out of his truck.

"Morning, Sook! I brought over my electric sander - let me get that for you and it'll go a lot faster!"

"Hey, Jason. Thanks! We'll get a lot more done with that around!" she replied.

"Yeah, I brought a bunch o' power tools over, since I didn't know what all we'd need."

She smiled, wiping her brow of sweat even at this early hour. She'd forgotten just how much more humid Louisiana was than California. She was wearing a small spaghetti strapped tank top and cut off denim shorts - she figured she might as well get a little sun while she was working. She never had much time to devote to tanning in L.A., and in that culture being pale was just unacceptable. Plus, she just liked to have a bit of color, and figured soaking up some vitamin D from the sun would probably help her spirits.

Hearing Jason's truck, Gran came to the screen door. "C'mon in, you two! I've made breakfast!"

Both the siblings headed inside to find a spread of scrambled eggs, some ham steaks and toast. "I was going to make waffles, but I thought that might be too heavy for you all in this heat."

"Thanks, Gran. I think I'd eat anything you put in front of me at this point, I'm so hungry, but you're probably right - best to stick to lighter foods," Sookie replied. Well, for a Southern breakfast, these _were_ lighter foods.

Sookie and Jason scarfed down their breakfast with some glasses of orange juice, then headed back outside. Sookie made quick work of the last of the paint on the swing, and Jason dragged the ladder out of the garden shed and headed up to the roof with a nail gun to work on the shingles.

The motions of painting - smoothing from one side to the other, again and again - soothed Sookie. She got lost in the mindless task, and it helped relax her. Around noon, it got too hot to be up on the roof, so Jason came down.

"I finished up most of the loose shingles, but I'll need to buy some new ones this afternoon so I can wrap it up tomorrow morning."

"That's great, Jase. Thanks."

"No problem, sis. Great job on the swing!"

She smiled. "It was really relaxing doing it." Then, Gran called them both in for lunch and they headed back inside, glad to be where it was a bit cooler. Over lunch, Jason filled Gran in on the few bits of town gossip she didn't know. Jason worked on the parish road crew with Hoyt Fortenberry - whose mother was THE town gossip - and he usually related it to Jason as they worked. It was such a small town thing, everybody being interested in everybody else's business.

Which made Sookie think - Hollywood was, when you got down to it, just like a small town. Everybody who was anybody all knew each other, saw them at the same events over and over. Then there were those trying to break into the gilded circle, which was kind of like a newcomer trying to be accepted in a small Southern town. You had the really popular people, the A-list, which was akin to the really old families in Southern towns, the ones who were considered to be respectable and decent people - of which the Stackhouses were certainly included in Bon Temps.

Jason was the town flirt, and very popular with the ladies, but he was also known to work hard. He'd in fact worked his way up to crew supervisor in just a few years. Gran was a pillar of the community and the church. Her grandfather, Earl, had also been a respected and hardworking member of the community before he passed away. Sookie was... well, let's just say she didn't really begin to blossom, physically, until late in high school, and by then she was already known to be a book nerd. She'd had a few close friends, Sam included, but she was nowhere near as well-liked as Jason had been while they were in school.

All this musing got the wheels turning in Sookie's head. How had Felicia hidden her pregnancy from the gossip mills? She had been known for trying to be the "it" girl, working any red carpet her manager could wrangle her an invitation for. Sookie had never heard a word about her being pregnant, and film sets were rife with gossip. Actors loved to talk, and they usually talked a lot when they were in the makeup chair because they couldn't be seen to be actively gossiping. That, and they had nothing else to do during that time.

Amelia usually heard all the juiciest gossip, and she never failed to pass it on to Sookie. Sookie wasn't nearly as interested as Amelia was, since Amelia was just a born gossip and just couldn't seem to stop. Sookie tuned out a lot of it, her mind usually returning back over her work to-do lists, but she did keep her ears open enough to hear of anything that might turn into an opportunity for Eric.

Surely if Felicia had been seen sporting a baby bump, it would've spread like wildfire since she was known to be a constant flirt. Tongues would've been wagging to guess who the father was, since there were usually a couple of men in her string at any given time. So how had she covered it up? And why? The news would've made her more famous instantly, and she would've gotten at least a few pics in the magazines speculating about it. She might have even had a few designers wanting her to sport their "maternity wear." It would've gotten her much more notice on red carpets, and many more photographers wanting her picture.

Sookie was snapped back to reality when she realized her Gran had asked her a question, apparently twice, and was waiting patiently for her to answer. "Sorry, Gran, my mind just wandered for a minute there."

Gran smiled softly. "Well, you've got a lot on your mind at the moment. I asked, did you get enough to eat?"

"Oh, yes - plenty," Sookie replied. "In fact, I think I'm going to go back outside and work on trimming back some of the lower tree limbs now."

"I think I'll go clean out the shed," Jason said. "I'll probably leave some of my tools here so I can try to keep things up a bit better, and I usually don't need them over at my house." Jason had moved into their parents' old home when he was 18 and kept it immaculate - on the outside, at least. On the inside it was a typical bachelor's place, with some empty beer bottles lying around and leftover pizza boxes.

Sookie slipped upstairs and changed into one of her less-revealing bikini tops. She wanted to get as much sun as she could, but hell, her _brother_ was outside. He'd be less than pleased to see her come outside sporting one of her tinier tops.

On her way out the door, Gran hollered from the kitchen, "Don't get too hot out there! I don't want you overdoing it and making yourself sick!"

She yelled back an "uh huh" then went out and found that Jason had already laid out the limb cutter for her. She donned a pair of work gloves and started trimming, her mind already spinning again.

It seemed that no one had known about Felicia's pregnancy - or at least, Amelia hadn't, and if she didn't know then it was likely no one knew. Of course, if she had, Sookie doubted that either she or Amelia would've paid much attention to it. They certainly would never have connected it back to Eric. Sookie had felt secure in her marriage and never really worried that her husband might stray. Now she wondered if that had been a mistake on her part. Should she have been more concerned about her husband's fidelity?

No, she realized. After their first two years of marriage or so, she really did feel secure. And Eric had certainly never given her any reason to think he might stray. He never looked at other women, and if he had to film a love scene, he would usually come home and joke about it with Sookie, telling her the trade secrets for covering up certain parts and laughing over the crew's jokes about it. After a while, Sookie never got jealous of those scenes any more, since Eric made it abundantly clear that he just saw them as a job, part of the package of taking on a role.

Even though she hadn't worried, she realized that certainly wasn't a fault. You couldn't be married to someone and constantly be on edge, jealous and jumping to the wrong conclusions all the time. She believed in having a trusting relationship. She trusted Eric not to stray, and he knew it. That didn't make her a bad wife; in fact, it made her a better one. It was certainly no crime to trust her husband.

If her friends worried - and she knew they had, since both Amelia and Sam had asked her to seriously consider it before marrying Eric - they had learned to trust Eric over the years. Amelia had never told Sookie any gossip about him, and Sookie felt confident enough in her friendship with Amelia to know that if Amelia had heard anything, she would've found out all she could and then sat Sookie down and told her. Even Sam had eventually relaxed enough to consider Eric a friend. And Sookie felt close enough to Pam to know that her sister in law would never tolerate her brother cheating - hell, she'd shown already that she was Team Sookie, if there were going to be sides drawn over the divorce. She'd never really abandon Eric, since they were all the family each other had left, but she'd already made it clear that he knew she thought his actions were the biggest mistake of his life.

So where did that leave her, Sookie wondered. She'd been confident in her marriage, no one had heard any gossip about her husband, and even his family trusted that he knew he had a good thing going.

So how, then, had Felicia pulled this off?


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: So, you guys are really torn. Should Sookie forgive Eric for cheating by proxy, in a way? Or should he be held accountable for being drunk, but not drunk **enough**for nothing to be able to happen with the Gracious Plenty? I read and consider all your reviews, and do take them into consideration! This is the last chapter I know for sure will be published on time... I have one ready for tomorrow to post, and I'll try to get the ones I write on the plane ready and post. After that, it's peace out and on vacation until Aug 8!_

_P.S. These characters belong to Charlaine Harris. I 3 her._

Sookie and Gran enjoyed another relaxing night, just enjoying being in each other's company again. Gran knitted, Sookie read a trashy romance novel that she'd been meaning to get to for months. The next few days passed in a similar fashion, with Sookie and Jason working around the house during the day and the family enjoying meals together. Jason even managed to keep from making any dates while his sister was visiting, so they could see each other more and catch up.

He asked her all about life in L.A. and her job. She, in turn, asked him about his hobbies and hangouts (the local bar and grill, mainly) and teased him by asking if he'd met a special lady yet. He squirmed a bit uncomfortably and confessed that he had met a lady named Michelle, and they seemed to be a good fit.

Hearing this, Sookie and Gran immediately insisted he invite her over for dinner to "meet the family." Seeing as this was the only real relationship Jason had ever had, they both jumped on the chance to meet this Michelle - and secretly assess her to see if she was good enough for Jason.

Jason brought her over about two nights later, and both Sookie and Gran were immediately impressed with her. She was a little older than his usual conquests - close to him in age - and had a no-nonsense way about her. It was clear from the word go that she wasn't going to put up with Jason's usual lifestyle, and that she expected him to be faithful to her if he wanted her to be faithful to him.

After finishing off the meal with some of Gran's famous pecan pie and cups of coffee, Sookie and Michelle ended up out on the porch swing, enjoying the cool night.

"So, Jason tells me you're married to an actor," Michelle said. "Would I have seen him in anything?"

Sookie mentioned a commercial he had done for a major brand of razors, and Michelle gasped. "Wow! He is one looker!"

Sookie gave a wry smile. "Yes, he certainly is that."

"But, I'm guessing you're here without him because there's some trouble in paradise?"

"You could say that," Sookie replied and gave her a bare bones rundown of the situation. She figured that this woman was as close to marrying Jason than anyone ever before, so there was no harm in talking to her potential sister in law a bit. Plus, living out in Louisiana, she wasn't likely to tell a tabloid or TMZ.

Michelle was silent for a while when Sookie finished. Finally, she said, "You know, I was married before. When I was really young - high school sweethearts and all that. He was the only guy I ever dated, ever loved. We got married just out of high school - way too young, in hindsight - and I found out a few years into the marriage that he had strayed.

I was devastated, of course, but I wanted my marriage to work. So I tried to get him to work on our issues, try to move past it. But he'd finally gotten to sow his wild oats, so to speak, and realized there was a whole world out there that he - and me, too - never got to experience. I never really wanted to be with anyone else, sow any wild oats, though. I just wanted him, and having his babies. Playing house really, I guess.

I had to think, to decide, whether I could live with his behavior or not. I finally decided that our fundamental trust was broken, and I didn't think it could be repaired. And I wasn't about to put up with him continuing to cheat on me. I knew my own worth, and I knew I was worth more than that. That's why I've been up front with Jason from the word go that his usual escapades will not be tolerated. I'm no fool; I know his reputation and I've gone into this with my eyes wide open. But now, I know what to look for and how to be treated, and I expect nothing less than what I'm worth.

I can't tell you what to do, Sookie, no one can. I'm no expert on saving marriages, that's for sure. But I can tell, after just a few hours with you, that you deserve the best out of life. You seem like a good person, and there aren't many good people left in the world today, it seems. It's up to you to decide your own worth, and how you want to live your life. Looking over your shoulder, or looking forward," she concluded.

Sookie ingested all this for a few minutes, the two women just rocking silently. Finally, she spoke.

"You know, I never worried that Eric would cheat. And from the sounds of it, he certainly didn't do it knowingly. Yes, he made his mistakes that led up to it happening, but for some reason, I don't think he'd do it again. He was - is - a good husband to me. He's been my partner for 10 years, in good times and bad, and believe me, sometimes it's been feast or famine, for a long time closer to the famine end of things.

I never cared, though - I would have lived in a cardboard box with him if we couldn't find a way to live anywhere else. I would've done anything for him, because he was worth it to me. I just don't know if I can deal with him having a child out there somewhere. Something seems wrong about that situation anyway, I just can't quite put my finger on it yet."

"Well, then it sounds to me that you're in the best place you could be right now. You've got your family around you, and they love you - even if Jason doesn't say it. I think it's been hard for him to admit he loves anyone, really, since your parents died. So, stay here a while, work things out in your own head. It sounds like your husband is waiting on you to make the next move, so think hard about what you want it to be. Figure out your bottom line, and stick to it." Michelle patted Sookie on the knee, then quietly got up and went back inside.

Later, after Jason and Michelle had gone home, Sookie lay in bed thinking over what Michelle had said. What was her bottom line? Where would she draw the line in the sand, so to speak? Decide on her next course of action and stick to it? It would be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do, if she had to tell Eric she was ending their marriage. But could she? Could she walk away from someone she loved so much it hurt?


	21. Don't Fck With Pam  Ch 21

_A/N: So, I have to give credit to __**vilanh**__ for one of the ideas for this chapter. She mentioned it in one of her reviews, and immediately after reading it the images started flashing in my head and I started writing.  
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_This is a long one, too, to hopefully tide you over until I can post some more... and, as always, feel free to PM me with any questions/ideas... I truly enjoy them all!_

The next week or so saw Jason and Sookie working hard to get the house up to it's best possible shape for a farmhouse that was over 150 years old. Jason and Terry Bellefleur worked together to get the outside repainted, and Sookie repainted the living room as well. In the end, they finished all the outside chores, and on the inside had taken down and washed the heavy living room curtains, tacked down some loose baseboards and scrubbed them, and repaired some floor boards. Gran helped by waxing and vacuuming all the furniture (though it hardly needed it, she kept the inside so clean). In the end, Gran professed herself absolutely giddy with her "new" house.

Jason had to go back to work after a week, so Sookie joined Gran in going to church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings - she hadn't been to church in years. They visited Gran's friends, who all said how glad they were to see Sookie and that she looked wonderful. (Evidently, Gran had warned them ahead of time not to talk about Eric, since not one of them asked after him. Sookie knew it must have just about killed the old biddies to keep quiet.) Sookie and Gran spent the next few days in a casual routine.

...

Back in L.A., Felicia sighed in relief as she pulled away from the "Children in the Arts" summer camp center. She'd just dropped April off for six weeks of tap, hip hop, voice and acting lessons. She rubbed her hand over her forehead... GOD, little kids were annoying. She'd be glad to have a few weeks free to herself. And to kick start her 'Summer of Freedom,' she had scheduled a meeting with a gentleman caller for that very evening. Well, 'gentleman' might be too strong a word; 'a good fuck' was a better description.

She was just about to slip her key in the door to her condo when she heard a voice behind her.

"I take it you're Felicia? _The_ Felicia I've been hearing so much about lately?"

The speaker was a lovely blonde woman with killer curves. She was dressed in snug fitting black pants and a red sequined tank top, and on her feet were stiletto heels. Felicia wasn't averse to swinging that way - and she knew her 'date' wouldn't mind an extra, so she smiled.

"Yes... and who might you be?" she purred.

In a flash, the woman was in front of her, pressing her back into still-locked door and pinning her between strong arms. "I think the better question is, who have you fucked over?" the woman growled out.

"What... what the hell are you talking about, lady?"

"Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Pamela Ravenscroft; well, it used to be Pamela Northman until I changed it to something a little more _fitting_ for my personality."

"Northman? You're the one who called and bitched me out about your brother, aren't you?" Felicia started to wriggle against Pam. "I never called your lawyer, and I don't need anything from you OR your brother!"

"Oh, that's where we beg to differ, sugar plum. And keep wiggling - I like it," Pam's blue eyes glittered darkly. "The more appropriate question is what _I_ want from _you_.

You've caused a lot of trouble in my family, and you've hurt people I care about very much. And it seems you've done it for purely selfish gain. Now, I personally am not against a little selfish gain, but I am _very_ much against it when it hurts people I love. You've fucked with two people who were truly happy together, and that is a rarity in this town.

You've broken the heart of someone I love, and I am not referring specifically to my brother. There was a totally innocent victim in your little game, and she didn't deserve any of the shitstorm you've rained down on her. In fact, she's one of the few truly good and decent people I've ever met. Which is exactly why my brother loves her.

Now that I have you where I want you - and trust me, you aren't going anywhere - it's time you realized that every action comes with a reaction. Everyone pays a price for the things they do. It's time for you to pay the piper."

"Pay the-" Felicia's question was cut off when Pam punched her in the face, hard, and everything faded to black as her head bounced off the door behind her.

…

The phone rang at the house in Bon Temps and Sookie answered it.

"Hello? Yes, this is Sookie Stackhouse. Yes, I will accept the call. Wait, you're calling from _where_? The L.A. County _jail_?"

Sookie's shoulders tensed up as she seemed to go on alert. "Yes... hello? PAM? Pam, what the hell are you doing in jail?" she cried.

Gran jumped to her feet. "WHAT? Pam's in jail?"

"Shh!" Sookie waved her hand at Gran and tried to focus on the phone in her hand. "Now, Pam, what are you doing in there? ASSAULT? On whom... _seriously_?" Sookie suddenly doubled over, laughing.

"Oh, God, this really shouldn't be funny. I _so_ shouldn't be laughing at this. Pam, stop it... you're not making it easy for me to quit laughing when you are! Okay, look," she wiped her eyes with the back of her free hand, "I'll get Sam to come bail you out. Don't worry, I'll have you out of there as soon as I can," she hung up.

"Sookie, what on earth is going on? Why is Pam in jail for assault? Who did she... oh, no," Gran whispered.

Sookie dialed Sam at the bar. "Sam? It's Sookie. I need you to go bail Pam out of the county jail for me. Yeah.. assault, apparently," she started giggling again. "And Sam, this one is SO on me!" She hung up and began laughing hard.

She collapsed on the couch, still giggling, and looked up at Gran. "Oh, I am SO going to hell for this..." and started cracking up again.

...

Later that night, after Sookie had finally stopped giggling and snorting from her spot on the couch, Gran and Sookie were again enjoying their usual nightly routine of knitting and reading. Breaking the silence, Gran spoke. "Sookie, honey, set your book aside for a moment, please," she requested, laying down her knitting needles.

Sookie sat up from where she was lying on the sofa and set the book on the coffee table. "What's up, Gran?"

"I think it's time you and I had a serious talk about what's going on in your life. I know you've needed an escape for a bit, but you've been here a week and a half, working yourself half to death. You need to face it, honey. That's why you came to see me, isn't it?"

Sookie sighed. "You're right, Gran. I did come here to talk to you. And I have needed an escape for a bit. I just haven't been ready to really talk it out yet."

"I know, child, and that's why I didn't push you."

"And I appreciate that, Gran."

"But, now we are going to talk. Let's get to the real crux of the issue. What bothers you more, thinking of your husband with someone else, or thinking of his child?"

"Well, both bother me - it sort of makes me sick to think about Eric with someone else - but the fact that someone else has what I will never have is eating away at me."

"I'm going to tell you something, Sookie, something I never told a soul but your grandfather. I loved your grandfather, you know that. But what you don't know is that he and I were not able to have children - he had a bad case of the mumps at around age seventeen. The doctor told him at the time that him being sterile was a possibility, but when we got married we were still hopeful it might happen. We were young and believed anything was possible. But after a few years of trying, nothing came of it. This was a great source of heartache for us both, Sookie, as I know you understand.

One day, when we had been married about four years, I went over to Monroe to get some lace I wanted that the local store didn't carry. I stopped for a bite of lunch while I was there. And in came a man who would change my life, and your grandfather's, forever.

He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen - as handsome as your Eric. He was very graceful, something most men in these parts never were, and he just, well, he just seemed to shine. I was watching him, from behind my menu so it didn't seem like I was. At first he sat down along the soda fountain bar and got himself a sweet tea. Then he sort of looked around the cafe, and for some reason his eyes fell on me.

He came over and asked if he could sit at my table with me, and for reasons I will never know, I said yes. He just seemed to make me forget everything about myself; my upbringing, my marriage, God. We sat and talked for hours at that table, and I found myself so at ease with him, I told him things no one knew, not even my pastor. I heard myself telling him of my struggle to have children, something I'd never really said aloud.

I told him how badly I wanted babies, and that my life seemed somehow empty without them. I'd always planned on being a momma, Sookie. It was all I ever wanted, really, a husband, home, and children. I know that you've wanted that, too, but you believe it isn't an option for you. And for that I am more sorry than you will ever know.

But this man, his name was Fintan - I remember thinking it was the most unusual name I'd ever heard - told me he could give me children if I truly wanted them. He sat there at the table, sipping his tea as I thought it over. In the end, I decided it was worth breaking a marriage vow if it would give my husband and I something we wanted so much.

So, he led me to my car, and told me to follow his. He led me down the back alleys to his rooming house. May God forgive me, Sookie, but I lay with him and wished desperately that this act would make me pregnant. And Fintan was so lovely, so gentle, so caring with me, that I think I fell a little in love with him right there. When it was time for us to part, he handed me a piece of paper with a telephone number on it and told me he could always be reached at that number - just in case I ever needed to reach him in the future, he said.

I went on home, and the guilt started killing me something awful. I confessed my sin to your granddaddy as soon as he came home. I knew he deserved to know. And he was furious with me for days, almost a month, maybe even longer, I forget just how long now. We just avoided each other; walked around each other in the house. I knew he needed time to think over what I did. But then the time came that I missed my monthlies. I knew, in my heart, that my wishes that day with Fintan had come true. I sat down and told your grandpa that I was pregnant. He sat there for a few minutes and didn't say anything. I was worried he would throw me out, he waited so long. Then, just as I was about to get up and start packing my bags, he looked at me and said, "We're going to have a baby?" with the biggest smile I'd ever seen on his face.

We had your daddy, and you have never seen a prouder father than Earl Stackhouse was. He was crazy about his son. And truly, he may not have been Corbett's biological father, but he was a great daddy, the only one your daddy ever knew.

When your daddy was about three, your granddaddy just said one day, real casual like, how nice it might be to have another baby. He asked me if I knew how to get in touch with Fintan, and I told him I had a number. I have never been as shocked as I was when Earl told me to call it.

I called, and the call got switched and switched until finally Fintan was on the line. I asked him if he remembered me, and he said of course, he could never forget a lady as lovely as me. I worked up my courage, and I said, "You know, my husband and I have a lovely little boy. We were thinking it might be nice for him to have a little brother or sister." There was silence on the line, then he said, "Are you asking what I think you're asking?" and I told him yes. Then he asked if my husband knew what we did, and if he wanted another child as well.

I looked over at your grandfather, who was standing next to me by the phone, and I told Fintan yes. I said my husband was the best husband and father in the world, and I looked right at your granddaddy when I said it. Finally, Fintan agreed.

We worked out that we would meet at a hotel in Shreveport, where hopefully no one would know me. I know it was the hardest thing your grandfather ever did, watching his wife go off to spend the night with another man. But having a child made us both so happy, he said he knew another child could bring nothing but more joy into our family.

So I went. I spent the first night I had ever spent away from either my parents or my husband. And again, Fintan was lovely. He treated me like a lady, and he never acted as if what we did was wrong or a sin or anything but beautiful. Finally, when I got up to leave the next morning, I asked him why he did it, fathered children with a woman he barely knew.

He told me that he had fallen in love with me at first sight in that little cafe in Monroe. He said that watching me talk about not being able to have children just about broke his heart. So he decided that, if he couldn't have me, since I would never leave my husband, he would give me the only thing he could, something he knew I wanted badly, and something so I would never forget him. All I could say to him was, "Thank you," and I left.

Your granddad and I didn't talk about me being gone for a night; we just went about our usual routine. And when we realized I was pregnant again, this time there was no hesitating on his part - we were both joyful. So, we got your Aunt Linda.

I'm not telling you this to tell you to go back to Eric, Sookie. I'm not telling you to try to raise his child. I'm simply telling you that nothing is ever quite as it seems, and sometimes the worst things turn out to be the best things in the end. I had a lot of grief when I was young, but I was lucky - Earl and Fintan were the best men I ever knew, and I was lucky enough that both of them loved me.

I hope this doesn't make you think badly of me or change our relationship, because you and your brother are the most important things in my life. I know that you think you will never know the joy of having a child, but with every joy comes sadness, Sookie. You might also never have to know the pain of burying your child. I know, because I buried both mine, and my daughter in law, too. Everything has more than one side, honey, nothing is black and white. Having love in your life is a beautiful thing, but it can be a double edged sword for sure.

And you know, what happened to you when you were a child was a long time ago. Things change, medicine advances all the time. They know things now that they didn't know back then. So if you decide you really want to try for a child, maybe there's hope now. Maybe there's something they can do to help you. You've taken the advice of a small town doctor to heart for so long. Perhaps it's time to go see someone new, someone up to date on everything."

"Oh Gran," Sookie cried, tears streaming down her face. She went and knelt in front of her grandmother and lay her head in her lap. "I could never think badly of you - you are the best lady I know, and you raised Jason and I so well. I always try to act like you, think of what you might do in any situation. And I never even considered that there might be some way to help me now. I just don't know anymore if it's Eric's baby I want to have. He hasn't really shown himself to be good father material."

Gran stroked her hair. "I think he doesn't know how to deal with the situation. He may think that if he does try to get closer to the child, he will push you farther away. You need to talk to him, honey. He's the only one who can answer these questions. You need to think about who you really trust in your life, who you depend on when the chips are down."

Sookie raised her head. "You mean Sam?"

"I do. I've known that boy since he was knee high to a grasshopper, and that boy has always thought you hung the moon. I don't know why you never really saw it. It was like it was there, but you didn't want to acknowledge it. You took his comfort when you needed him, but you never seem to want to offer him anything in return."

Gran gently raised her chin so Sookie was looking at her. "Honey, it's time to stop running. It's time for you to go home."


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: So here, after my relaxing vacay, is the next installment. I admit it took a bit for me to decide where I was going with this chapter, so it was delayed a bit. Also, I freely admit to borrowing a bit of Emma Thompson's brilliant speech to Alan Rickman in 'Love, Actually.' It's just... well, perfect. If you haven't seen the movie, run out and get it, because the movie is perfect, too. _

_Charlaine owns the characters. I think Miramax owns 'Love, Actually.' I just know I don't._

Sookie rented a car when she landed at LAX. She was on a mission, and she didn't want anyone to pick her up and try to talk her out of it. Sam, Pam (assuming she was bailed out by now, which Sookie hoped she was), Amelia and even her lawyer would probably be against this. But she knew in her heart it was something she had to do, and it was long overdue.

She drove the familiar route to her old apartment complex and parked in the empty spot next to where Eric's Corvette was always parked. She made her way up the stairs and knocked - it seemed the polite thing to do, since she didn't live there anymore. It was about 7 p.m., so it was a safe bet Eric was home.

The door swung open at her knock as she raised her hand to knock again. She felt her heart clench as she looked at her husband for the first time in weeks and weeks. He was thinner, more haggard looking. He needed a haircut and was several days past due for a shave.

He blinked, did a bit of a double take, then instinctively reached for her, arms out for an embrace. She held up a hand and gently pressed against his chest to stop him. A hurt look crossed his face, then he silently stood back to let her enter.

She entered the empty living room and looked around. There were spots on the carpet where the furniture had stood. Cleaning and vacuuming obviously wasn't on Eric's mind, especially considering the number of empty beer bottles and pizza boxes lying around.

He watched her silently, and suddenly wished he'd taken a bit more care of the place. Sookie had always kept their home immaculate, and he was embarrassed to let her see how he'd let it go.

"Um, I'd ask you to sit down, but, well..."

"I know. We can just sit on the floor, maybe? We need to talk."

He let himself smile a bit for the first time since Sookie left. "We do need to talk, Dear One. I'm so glad you're here and we can work this out."

"Hold on, Eric. I didn't say I came to 'work things out,' I just said we need to talk."

He looked hesitant, then answered, "Okay, well, since you came here to talk to me, why don't you start? Wait - first though, did you get my letter?"

"I got it. I read it. I didn't know how to respond, so I didn't."

"Okay. Well, that gets a lot of things that I wanted to tell you out of the way, since you know now. I wasn't sure if Sam would pass it along to you or not, though."

Sookie rolled her eyes. "I know you've never really warmed to Sam, but he is a good guy. He's been doing his best to be there for me since this all started. And he would never keep something like that from me."

"Right," he agreed tonelessly. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"First, I want to know if you've gotten a DNA test. I'm dealing with two separate issues here, Eric. One is you cheating, the other is you having a child with someone else. If there's any chance that you aren't the father, that eliminates one of those issues and leaves us to deal with the cheating - well, and the lying by omission for like five years."

He winced. "Umm, no, I haven't gotten one. I'm not even sure how to go about it, actually, since she doesn't seem to want me anywhere near the girl."

"You get a lawyer, and you subpoena her for one. If she's claiming paternity, even if she doesn't want anything from you, you have a right to know if that truly is your child. She may change her mind and want you to pay child support until she's eighteen. Do you want to do that if it really isn't your child? And, I mean, the odds are crazy that she would get pregnant after one night with you. It _was_ just the one night, right?"

"Yes. Sookie, I swear it was just once. It was horrible. It wasn't something I wanted, and it wasn't something I wanted to continue."

"I want to believe you, Eric, I really do. But you would have to be really, really drunk to not know what was going on. And if you were that drunk, chances are you couldn't perform."

"Unless she slipped me something. I've been wondering about that - if maybe she had the bartender put something in my drink. A roofie, ecstasy, I don't know."

"I guess we'll never know," she answered. "I mean, she hasn't exactly been forthcoming with information, it's not like she would admit to drugging you."

"I know. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember it - not that I want to remember that specifically, but it's driving me crazy that I lost basically a night of my life."

"I can see that. Did you know that Pam got arrested for assaulting Felicia?" Sookie felt a bitter taste come into her mouth just saying that name.

"Whaaaa?" he was dumbfounded. "When did this happen?"

"Last night? Night before last? I'm not sure on the actual date just yet, but she called me to bail her out last night. I sent Sam to do it, then I came home today to make sure she was sorted out."

"Came home? Where were you?"

"I went to Louisiana for a while. I needed to try to wrap my head around some things."

Eric groaned. "Oh, shit, did you tell Gran what happened? Or Jason? Do they hate me now, too?"

"Yes, I told them, and no, they don't hate you. I don't either, for the record - hate you. Well, Jason is pretty pissed off at you, so I wouldn't go making any road trips to Bon Temps, but they don't hate you."

"Oh, thank God. I don't know how I could work that out when we get back together."

"Eric, who says we're getting back together?" Sookie asked softly.

"I - I thought... I thought since you were here, you came home, you wanted to talk. I thought this was the 'working through things' talk."

"We need to talk, because there are some things I need to say that my lawyer can't say for me. And my therapist has been encouraging me to deal with things head on. That's why I'm here. You need to hear some things directly from me, and I need to say them out loud to you."

"You're seeing a therapist? Sookie, I'm so sorry. I never meant to cause you all this stress. I just wanted to spare you from the pain of knowing all these years. And, I'll admit, I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid I'd lose you. But now it looks like I'm losing you anyway," He said the last part bitterly.

"I want to believe you, Eric. About sparing me pain. And yes, I'm seeing a therapist. I've got a lot of issues to work through, not just the things with you, but a lot of things I've never really dealt with, I've just repressed.

I need to ask you something, and I need you to answer me honestly. No trying to spare me anything. If the situation was reversed, do you think you could forgive me?"

He started to say something, then paused. "I - I don't know. I want to believe I would, but I know that the thought of you with someone else would tear me apart."

"Then now, you have an idea of what I'm feeling." She took a deep breath. "The thing I need to say to you is this - you've made a fool out of me, Eric. You've made the life I led foolish. Knowing that there is someone out there, even just one person, for years - and now everyone in my life - who thought I was a fool, it's something I don't know if I can accept or forgive. Not that everyone in my life now thinks I'm foolish, but they are all aware of my humiliation. You swore, when we got married, to always be honest with me. And you weren't. You've broken my trust, and I don't know if you can ever get it back." She rose to her feet.

"Sookie, _please_, please don't leave. We can work on this, we can work this out, I promise. You're my wife," he whispered.

Sookie paused with her hand on the doorknob. "No, Eric, I'm your fool." She gently shut the door behind her.


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: So this is a short one, a transition chapter. But we need to see what Dr. Compton has to say about recent events..._

"So, you went to Louisiana. You visited your family. Am I correct in assuming that you let your grandmother in on the situation with your husband?" Dr. Compton asked.

"Yeah... it was really good that I went. I was busy, I was able to take my mind off things for a while. But, I still had a chance to think things over. I did end up telling my grandmother, and my brother, what happened with Eric."

"And how did your family respond?"

"My brother immediately wanted to fly to L.A. and beat him half to death. No surprise there. My grandmother, she was very supportive, and she didn't jump to judge Eric. She encouraged me to think about the real root of the issues, and how I felt about them, honestly. She also told me that she herself had been unfaithful, and my father and my aunt weren't my grandfather's biological children. But she said he knew about it from the beginning. He didn't really accept the acts themselves, but he accepted the children as his own."

"How did you feel when you learned of her... transgression?"

"I was shocked. She said the reason she told me was so that I would know that not everything is black and white. She didn't want me to judge her."

"And do you? Judge her?"

"No... like I said, I was shocked, but I understood why she did it - to get pregnant. She and my grandfather couldn't have children together."

"'Nothing is black and white,' she said. That's a very astute observation. Do you still feel that things with your husband are black and white? Or do you see shades of grey?" Dr. Compton asked.

"I see the issue of him having a possible child as more grey. I can see that perhaps he didn't ask for the situation, he didn't want it. But the issue of him not telling me for years, that's black and white to me. It's broken trust and by extension, lying to me for years. That's not acceptable, and I don't know if it's forgivable."

"I see. What happened when you met with your husband?"

"I got a lot of things off my chest," Sookie responded. "I urged him to get a DNA test. I told him to get a lawyer. I did feel somewhat sorry for him, he didn't look great. Haggard." 

"Do you feel more at peace now that you've said what you needed to say?"

"Definitely, yes. I feel lighter, somehow. I didn't realize how much avoiding him, and carrying all that around, was weighing me down. I see more clearly now the steps I need to take."

"What steps have you decided are best for you?"

"To get my own place. To take steps toward starting a new life on my own. Also, to re-evaluate my relationship with Sam."

"And Sam is your best friend?"

Sookie nodded. "Has been for years. My grandmother told me to ask myself who I really count on when the chips are down. She made me see, really truly acknowledge, that Sam has had feelings for me for years."

"Was this a surprise to you?"

"Not really... not when I thought about it. I mean, I knew on some level how he felt. But I kept him in the friend zone."

"Do you think you could ever see him as anything other than a friend?"

"I... I might. I've been thinking about this a lot, and I realized that every single time I needed him, he's been there for me. He's one of the constants in my life. He makes me feel safe."

"And you didn't with your husband?"

"I did, to an extent. I suppose I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop though, in a way. It seemed to good to be true - that this really handsome guy could really love _me,_ this girl from Louisiana. He seemed so much more worldly and experienced, but yet he seemed interested in me. He wanted to marry _me_. On some level, it all felt like a dream."

"Do you think you were waiting on him to stray?"

"I know my friends were. I grew comfortable with our marriage, but I suppose I still always had my doubts. I tried hard to be the perfect wife, to be as supportive as I could."

"Can you see that, in trying to be the 'perfect wife,' you weren't really living? You were playing a part, acting?"

"I never really thought about it like that," Sookie answered slowly. "I was trying to do my best. But I think maybe I always worried on some level that my best wouldn't be good enough one day."

"So you're going to find a home of your own? I think this is a very good step for you. Space from your husband, space from Sam, may help you gain some clarity about the events in your life."

"Yes," she said. "Amelia says she has narrowed it down to three really nice ones in my price range, so I'm going on Saturday to look at them and make a choice."

"That sounds like a very positive thing," Dr. Compton replied. "Think over what we've talked about today, and let me know next week how the apartment hunt goes."

"Same time next week, doctor," Sookie agreed.


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: Sorry for the delay, but it's taken me some time to decide where to go next. I've had brain waves for a few portions of chapters, but how to arrange them has been puzzling me. Anyway, here's the next installment. We're going to see how Eric is handling things!_

Eric woke the morning after Sookie's visit feeling weary and depressed. The love of his life wanted nothing to do with him. She didn't really believe that he honestly had no memory of his encounter with Felicia, but the good news was she wasn't 100% sure April was even his child.

He had an idea on how to fight that, though. He would take her advice - getting a lawyer being Step One. Sookie was always very methodical and organized - it was what made her so good at her job - and her suggestions were excellent.

A lawyer. He really had no idea how to go about finding one, much less finding a good one. Then he remembered - an actor friend of his had gone through a divorce and said his lawyer was really good. Eric figured that was a good place to start, and better than calling someone randomly from the phone book.

He found the actor's number in his phone's contact list, and got the name. Bobby Burnham. Eric was 100% sure that a lawyer named Bobby would be the kind of pit bull he'd need against Felicia, but he figured it was worth a shot. He called the office and made an appointment - the secretary was even able to get him in the next day.

So, bright and early the next day, Eric woke and showered and shaved. He put on what Sookie always referred to as his "grown up clothes," meaning his Armani suit. Since he was usually a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, wearing a suit _was_ "grown up" for him.

He called a cab and got to the lawyer's office on time. The plaque on the door outside the office said, "Robert Burnham, Esquire - Attorney at Law." The formal wording somehow made Eric feel better about this guy.

He let the secretary know he was there and settled down to wait. But at exactly 8:30, the door to the lawyer's office opened and a guy who looked to be in his mid-30s called his name. The attorney had just his suit jacket office, and his tie was loosened. He welcomed Eric into his office.

Eric greeted him formally, calling him "Mr. Burnham," but the lawyer shook his hand and said, "Call me Bobby. I'm pretty relaxed with my clients," and smiled.

Eric took a seat in the office and his doubts were somewhat allayed by the decor - very professional, with a lot of awards and plaques made out to Bobby - or Robert, rather. Shelves upon shelves of books lined the walls. It was all very "lawyer-ish," yet it had a somewhat relaxed feel.

"So, Mr. Northman - can I call you Eric? - my secretary says you're here about a divorce," Bobby said.

"Yes, please call me Eric, and I'm actually here because I don't want a divorce."

Bobby's eyebrows raised at that and he said, "Explain."

Eric outlined the situation to him, and explained that Sookie was the one petitioning for a divorce, but he wanted to try to work things out with her.

Bobby leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk as he thought for a few minutes. "Okay, here's what we can do - we can file a petition with the courts for a DNA test, and we can subpoena Felicia to give her account of events, under penalty of perjury. Then we'll file her version with the court, and yours as well, to start a paternity suit.

About the divorce, I can contact your wife's attorney and see what he thinks is the possibility he can talk Sookie out of a divorce. He and I can try to mutually agree to a temporary restoration of, at the very least, your Corvette back to your possession, so you'll be able to get to work more easily. I'll try to get an injunction so they can't sell your joint possessions without a licensed auctioneer, and you will have to be present at the sale. Most likely your wife will have to be there, too, or at least her attorney. If you don't want to be there in person, I can go as your representative.

I'll try to feel out Cataliades and see what he thinks are the chances your wife would agree to drop the divorce petiton. He and I have had cases against each other before, so we know each other and he is very above-board. He'll give us an honest answer. How do you feel about, as your response to her petition, filing a request for both of you to attend marriage counseling?"

Eric said, "Wow. I'm impressed! It seems like you've thought of everything, and in less than five minutes. And yes, I will go for counseling with Sookie. I'll do anything to get her to reconsider divorcing me. That's the last thing I want - I want to do everything, try everything, to get her to change her mind. To get a chance to re-earn her trust."

Bobby chuckled. "This ain't my first time dealing with these issues - although with you stating you have no memory of the encounter with this Felicia, it makes things a bit different. Since so much time has lapsed, there's no way we can test for any kind of drug in your system. All I can do is put a lot of pressure on her attorney to get a valid, truthful statement of events. And, of course, if the DNA proves you are not the father, well then, we can either go after her for slander, or we can let it go with just the results filed with the court so she can't ever come after you for child support. Sound okay with you?"

"It sounds fantastic. Could you contact Sookie's lawyer first, though, and see if he thinks she'll go to counseling? That's the most important to me. I don't care so much about getting my car back or selling our possessions, I want my wife back. And I'll do anything to make that happen."

"Sounds like we have a plan," Bobby grinned.

A few hours later, Eric was back at home and feeling much better about everything. He trusted Bobby, and it seemed that Bobby had his best interests in mind and they had agreed on working on Sookie first.

Eric had stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up food, shampoo and all the other essentials he'd run out of over the last few weeks. He was humming softly to himself when Pam let herself in.

"Well, well, brother, you certainly seem chipper," she snarked.

"I'm much better, Pam, thanks for asking," he drawled. "Not that I don't love to see you these days, but why are you here?"

Pam grinned. "Can't I come check on my favorite brother once in a while?"

"I'm your _only_ brother, Pam. And no, lately you haven't really been checking on me so much as coming over to rub things in my face," he shot back.

"Ok, I admit that I've been less than pleased with you these days. But you _are_ still my brother and I _do_ care about you," she responded softly.

Eric turned from the kitchen cabinet to face her. "Well, in that case, have a seat" - he gestured around the empty floor - "and tell me what's been going on."

Pam checked out various spots on the carpet until she found the one that would probably get the least amount of dust on her outfit. She settled as daintily as possible, crossing her ankles in front of her in a ladylike fashion. Eric plopped down onto the floor across the living room from her and kicked out his long legs.

"So, dear sister, what's going on in your life? New outfit, new shoes? I'll call the newspapers to get it in tomorrow's issue."

Pam merely raised her eyebrow at him, in a dead mimic of how he raised his own. "Why yes, I did get some fabulous new Louboutins. I'd tell you all about them but I know you don't really care," she replied, then started telling him stories about some things that had happened at the club, and the cute new waitress she'd hired.

Eric listened with one ear on Pam, and most of his mind going over what had happened with the lawyer. He responded in all the right ways to Pam's questions, but he wasn't really thinking about them.

Finally, Pam asked, "So what has you in such a good mood, Eric? And you've actually shaved and done something with your hair! Got a hot date?" she snipped.

Eric groaned. "No, Pam, I do not have a 'hot date,' or even any date. I'm married, remember? And there's only so long you can go without shaving until you look like you belong in ZZ Top. Which has never really been a look that appealed to me."

"You're married, are you? Hmmm. Nice to know you still think so. But what about the wee, small matter of your wife leaving you?"

Eric decided immediately that he wasn't going to let Pam in on his and Bobby's plans. She might be his sister, but she'd already shown that she was Team Sookie. Eric really didn't want her running off at the mouth to Sookie before the attorneys had a chance to talk. That would just give Sookie plenty of time to think of reasons to say no. But, something Pam said gave him an idea. He tried to sound as nonchalant possible when he answered.

"Yes Pam, I am very married. Now, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

"Not really. In fact I probably should go and get to the club - I think Ginger needs more "training," she winked. "I need to use the restroom, although I shudder to think how long it's been since it was cleaned. Probably since Sookie cleaned it last, if I had to guess. Oh well, I guess I can always do 'the hover.'"

"Nice, Pam. I really don't need to know about your bathroom practices," Eric responded as she made her way down the hall. As soon as he heard the bathroom door shut, he grabbed her giant purse and dug through the pile of makeup and credit cards until he found her phone. He pulled up her contacts list and quickly copied a number and address into his own phone. He put the phone back in the purse, then sort of wiggled his hand around, trying to make it look like it's typical bomb-site mess. He jumped up and went back to putting groceries away in the kitchen as Pam came back down the hall.

"Well, that was only slightly cleaner than the county dump, but when a girl's gotta go, a girl's gotta go," she said and air kissed him as she sashayed out the front door.

As soon as he heard the door shut, Eric grinned and leaned on the kitchen counter. He and his lawyer might have come up with some plans this morning, but Eric had just come up with a plan of his own.


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: sorry for the few grammatical mistakes in the last chapter - I always read my stuff over several times before posting, but I can still miss some things. All lingonberry/IKEA references are for my bestie, sunshinelvr. She's obsessed with IKEA and educated me on the concept of the "flat pack." I refuse try lingonberries, though. Even when she pouts and says it's the greatest thing EVAH. As always, everything belongs to The Maker, Charlaine Harris._

…

_Meanwhile, we catch up with Sookie..._

Immediately upon returning to L.A., Sookie upped her "moving ahead with her life" timetable. Amelia had previewed a number of apartments for her and narrowed it down to three. Sookie, Pam and Amelia spent a Saturday morning viewing all three. Unlike the first two, which all three women agreed were "okay," as soon as she saw stepped into the third, Sookie looked around for a moment, then at exactly the same time, she, Pam and Amelia all said, "This one!" They then immediately cracked up laughing.

After spending a few minutes with the property manager, Sookie paid her deposits, signed her lease and had her keys. She ran back to the apartment and looked around her new home. Vaulted ceiling with a skylight in the living room, which was all open plan with the kitchen and dining room. A small "powder room" on the ground floor, then upstairs was a large, open loft and full bath. There were windows everywhere, leaving the apartment bathed in a bright glow.

"So? Think you'll be happy here?" Pam asked.

Sookie answered, "You know? I really think so. It feels like a good place to start over - a very bright, clean slate."

"There's just one small matter we need to address," Amelia said. The other two women looked at each other, grinned and said, "SHOPPING!"

…

"Thank God for IKEA," Sam muttered as he helped Sookie get her bed frame up the stairs and into the loft. "Not only does your mattress come so flat packed that you can carry it upstairs by yourself, but none of the furniture is made of real wood! Much easier to unload from my truck," he grinned.

"I suppose the Swedes are good for something," Sookie answered. "Like IKEA and ABBA," she giggled. Sam gave an answering snort of laughter as he brought in her new bookcase.

A few hours later, Sam was back to cursing Sverige for the IKEA instructions being in Swedish. "Seriously? They have tons of stores in the states and I'm stuck looking at the pictures to figure this thing out. Seriously. It's an entertainment center - this should not be difficult."

Sookie looked up from the midst of bookcase pieces. "Let me see if I can help. I think I've cracked their code." She crawled over to the pile of pieces surrounding Sam. He passed over the instructions and she began to try to make sense of them.

"Okay, so the flat piece gets attached to that long thingy... it looks like it's attached by something that looks sort of snake-like..."

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Sookie! I hate to say it, but maybe we should call...?" Sam trailed off.

"Call who? Oh wait, you mean ERIC? No way! Just because he speaks Swedish is no reason to call him."

"Soo-oook," Sam groaned and collapsed on the floor. "I think my brain will turn into a lingonberry if we keep this up."

"Easy there, Berry Boy. We have another ace in the hole we can use." Sookie grabbed her phone and called Pam. As soon as he heard Pam's voice on speakerphone, Sam actually hollered with glee. "I forgot about Pam! Pure GENIUS!"

Pam chuckled over the phone. "Well I certainly am glad you think I can help you out, Sam. But surely you recall I prefer the fairer sex? Not that the whole "urban cowboy" look doesn't work for you."

Sookie laughed. "No, we're just in the middle of trying to put together all my lovely IKEA furniture, and we've discovered the instructions are in 'Svenska.' We're surrounded in the living room by a random boards that don't seem to go anywhere, and apparently we're too dumb to understand diagrams. Help us, Pam! We're in a Swedish hell, Sam's turning into a lingonberry as we speak - I can literally see him taking on a roundish appearance - with no hope of escape. We need you to get us out of our ash blond hell!"

Pam laughed. "Well, as long as I don't have to actually touch anything but paper, fine. But if I get a paper cut I'll sue. And there better not be any nail-breakage!"

"I wouldn't expect any less, O Manicured One," Sookie chuckled. Sam moaned weakly from his ball shape on the floor.

"I'm on my way."

…

A few hours later, Pam had translated all the instructions while Sookie and Sam assembled. Once her work there was done, Pam floated out the door giving air-kisses and promises to send her translation bill. Which would most likely come in the form of a massage gift certificate or several vodka-tinis.

Finally, Sookie and Sam only had one thing left to do. The flat packed mattress lay in the center of the bed frame, and the two looked at each other across the bed. "Well, do you want to do the honors or should I?" Sookie asked.

"You should. This is the symbolic new beginning for you. Have at it," he handed her a small pocket knife and she carefully made an incision near a plastic seam, well away from the actual fabric. Once the packaging was loosened, the mattress sprang open and unfolded itself with what Sookie thought was a nice dramatic flourish. Sam held up the mattress while Sookie retrieved the plastic packaging out from underneath it. They got it straightened and centered on the bed frame, and Sookie looked at Sam across the bed.

"You know what I'm thinking?" she asked, twinkling.

"Totally," he replied. "One... Two... Three... JUMP!"

Both friends did giant belly flops onto the bed and lie there riding out the bounce. Suddenly, Sookie looked at Sam and it was as if she were seeing him for the first time. He'd always had sort of unruly hair, but now it was going grey on the sides and looked great on him. There were small, fine lines around his eyes from smiling and laughing, which also worked for him. His button down shirt had ridden up as they bounced, showing a strip of smooth, hard muscle.

Sookie watched him relax out on her new bed, one arm tucked behind his head. She'd never really noticed how strong his arms looked - in a wiry way, not a "gym every day" look. Like he'd gotten his physique the hard way - working for it every day doing honest, manual labor carting crated of beer around his bar..

Sookie felt sort of out of her body, like she was watching events unfold from somewhere else, up above. She watched herself lean over and kiss Sam gently on the mouth. He seemed shocked at first, then he tangled his fingers in the long hair at the base of her skull and pulled her into a tight lock. They kissed hurriedly, frantically, for a moment when Sam suddenly let go of her hair and pushed her gently away from him.

With eyes glazed over from the lust of the kiss, Sookie asked, "What's wrong? Don't you... don't you want to kiss me?" She shyly tucked her head down into her chest as she blushed.

"Oh, Sookie... Sookie, look at me." Sam's hand gently turned her by the chin until she was facing him. "Sook, you know I'd love to kiss you; hell, I'd love to do _everything_ with you. But you're on the rebound, cher. And I... I'm not going to be your rebound guy. I don't think I could take it, waiting for you to find someone else you're more interested in. I couldn't have you, even a small piece of you, and lose it."

Sam stood and made his way downstairs. He turned when he reached the front door and looked back at Sookie standing up in the loft. "Let me know when you want me to help you hang your stuff on the wall, cher," he said softly. "Don't forget to lock up. 'Night."

"'Night, Sam," Sookie whispered as he closed the door.


	26. Chapter 26

_A/N: Just to clear up for some readers/reviewers - there will not be any three ways with Sookie, Sam and Eric happening in this story. It's listed as Sookie x Eric x Sam just to identify the main characters. It's also listed just as a Sookie story because it's her dilemmas, her choices, she's the main character. _

_As for Eric: a lot of people feel very strongly about his portrayal in this story. I made him hated in the beginning, but now he's been insisting in my mind that I make him more human. He's not perfect, and the situation he finds himself in is a difficult one. There is no "right or wrong Eric" as this is a non-canon story. My personal feelings (and I like Book Eric) is that he is constantly portrayed in fanfic as perfect or a saint, always saving the day. The idea just came to me that "Eric can't always win." That's not to say that Sookie will not try to fix her marriage, it's just throwing out a new characterization of him for readers._

_About Sookie: she's not evil or a saint either in this situation. She's a woman whose life has just gone adrift. There are many levels to her situation; like Gran said, "nothing is black and white." So right now she's trying to make her way through the gray areas. Remember, her character in this story is very organized and methodical, a bit OCD, and she's most at home in situations where she has a level of control. She's now having to figure out how to cope with issues that she can't just "fix."_

_Sam: I'm always perplexed by readers who think Sam is evil somehow. Hell, he's not Quinn! LOL This Sam is similar to the books in that he's a: got a torch for Sookie and b: he's always there for her. He's not trying to control her, he's merely trying to be supportive while keeping his personal feelings at bay. I think the last chapter showed that Sam is honorable - he won't take advantage of Sookie being vulnerable, and he values himself enough to not settle for second best or being the rebound guy. _

_Ok, so this is probably the longest A/N in the history of fanfic. All legal issues and comments are just what I've come up with, I have no legal training. I just watch a lot of CourtTV. Oh, and the Adele song referenced is "Turning Tables." On with the show._

…

Sookie was shocked at herself when Sam left. Had she just tried to take advantage of one of her best friends? If she was simply trying to explore new options, hell, why didn't she just hit on Pam?

She remembered Gran's remark about Sam always having a crush on her, and always being the one she turned to in a crisis. Did that mean that she kept Eric at arm's length during their marriage, always relying on Sam? She thought that surely she had depended on her husband. But when things were at their darkest, and Eric wasn't the husband she could depend on, she ran to Sam. She supposed this was one of the things Gran had referred to as "gray areas," things not being black and white. Did she do that knowing Sam would always provide a safe haven for her, or because she knew that his feelings for her transcended friendship and he always put her first?

Sookie had a restless night's sleep. She kept tossing and turning, with Eric and Sam both running through her mind. She woke up and decided that the best thing she could do in this situation was to distance herself from Sam for a bit until she sorted out her feelings for him. She had already put Eric at arm's length; it was time for her to stand up on her own and decide what was best for her. Even if what was best for her was the most painful option, or went against what Pam and Amelia urged her to do. A line from an Adele song ran through her head: "next time I'll be braver, I'll be my own savior, standing on my own two feet." She decided that would be her new motto.

She started work on a new movie, and working helped her re-focus and remember that she was good at something, that her work gave her a sense of self-esteem, separate from being married to Eric or being a good friend. She was about a week and a half into the new project - and her self-imposed isolation - when she got a phone call from her lawyer.

Mr. Cataliades greeted her warmly, as he always did. "Miss Stackhouse, I hope this call finds you well?"

"I'm doing pretty good, Mr. Cataliades. Do you have an update on the divorce petition? Did Eric ever sign it?"

"Actually, no, he hasn't. I received a call from his attorney this morning, a man named Bobby Burnham. He and I have had several cases against each other before; I know him to be upfront in his dealings and honest."

"What did this Mr. Burnham say?" she asked.

"Well, I was informed of some new information that I was instructed to pass along to you. First, Mr. Northman requests that you both attend marriage counseling before he will agree to sign the divorce petition. Also, he wanted you to be made aware that he has filed a paternity suit against the woman claiming he fathered her child. She will be made to supply a DNA sample for comparison. If it turns out Mr. Northman is not the father, he is considering the option of suing her for slander. That's a very serious accusation, and if he does choose this path, you would be expected to give testimony to the court of the issues this woman has caused in your marriage."

"Wow. I have to admit, I'm a bit stunned that Eric is actually pursuing the DNA issue. He's avoided this whole thing for so long, I'm surprised that he is willing to go to court to clear his name. Assuming he's not the father, that is. What happens if he _is_ the father? Where does that leave him?"

"That would be for him to decide. Since he is starting the paternity suit, he would have the option of presenting to the court an affadavit alleging that she took advantage of him for procreational reasons, without his consent. Unfortunately, as Mr. Burnham pointed out, too much time has lapsed for any kind of drug testing to be done."

"I see. So he's really taking this seriously?"

"Oh yes, indeed. His lawyer has informed me that Mr. Northman is willing to do just about anything to clear his name of paternity and to try to repair your marriage. Even if DNA shows he _is_ the biological father, he can submit to court record his version of events, and he can either choose to be involved in this child's life, or simply provide child support until the girl is 18 and elect to have no visitation rights.

However, Mr. Burnham stressed that the DNA aspect of things is of secondary importance to Mr. Northman. His most pressing desire is to see you drop the divorce suit. He has made it clear to his attorney that he is willing to go to any lengths to try and repair this marriage. As for the request for counseling, how do you feel about that?"

"I... I need to think on it awhile. If I did agree to go, could we see my therapist, Bill Compton? He already knows my feelings about everything that's gone on, and I'd feel more comfortable with him."

"If this Dr. Compton provides couples' counseling, I'm sure Mr. Northman would be agreeable to use him. If you agree to go, I doubt Mr. Northman would object to using someone you are comfortable with already."

"Okay...," Sookie said slowly. "I need some time to think on this. How long before I have to give an answer?"

"I would say a week would be a reasonable amount of time. Do you think you can decide in that timetable?"

"Yeah, that sounds fair. Okay, I will call you my answer soon. And can you keep me posted on the DNA issue?" she asked.

"Of course. However, I must warn you that the legal system in this country is slow, and getting a DNA sample could take some time. Then, there will have to be time for the samples to be compared. And, the mother could opt to get her own attorney and try to stop the proceedings. There are a number a variables and outcomes this suit could have. I feel it's my duty to make sure you are aware of this, and that you know Mr. Northman may not get an answer for some time."

"I understand," Sookie replied. "Life's not like 'Law and Order' where everything is solved in an hour."

Mr. Cataliades chuckled. "That is an excellent way of describing things, Miss Stackhouse."

"Well, I appreciate your call, and I'll get in touch with you soon with my answer about counseling. Thank you so much for all your help."

"It's my pleasure to represent you, Miss Stackhouse. Have a good day."

"You, too" Sookie responded and ended the call. She had some major thinking to do, and like the song said, she was going to do it standing on her own two feet.


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: Based on the reviews this story has been getting, and the fact that its been ongoing for over two months now, I thought it might be a good idea to do a recap. So, here we go:_

_Felicia leaves a voicemail for Eric - he realizes that this message is in reference to a child Felicia claims he fathered some six years previously. She let him know at the time that she was pregnant, but he denied being the father (even though he had gotten drunk one night and woken up next to her in a hotel room, naked). He then made the decision to not tell his wife, Sookie. Due to childhood trauma, Sookie believes herself to be unable to bear children. Eric uses that as an excuse for not telling her, although he does admit that he had selfish reasons for not telling her as well. We see a little bit of their courtship, and it is mentioned that he had to repeatedly propose before she would accept - both because she feared his ability to be faithful (due to his profession as an actor, plenty of time spent with beautiful women, sex scenes, etc.) and because she felt she owed him the chance to father a child with his wife - meaning, not her. It is made clear that _he_ pursued _her_. She married him despite her friends' concerns (Sam and Amelia), and her own, about his potential for infidelity._

_When Pam (Eric's sister) learns of his transgression, she is understandably furious with him. She has grown close to Sookie over the course of the marriage and takes her side. Sookie retains an attorney (Mr Cataliades) who advises her to put all their joint property into storage to be sold at auction. Sookie begins to see a psychiatrist, Dr. Compton. He advises that she return home to Louisiana for a visit and explain her situation to Gran, who has always been her moral compass. While there, Gran confesses her indiscretions with Fintan, but makes it clear that her husband, the man Sookie thought of as her grandfather, was aware of the situation from the beginning._

_While at Gran's, Sookie sorts her feelings into two distinct issues - Eric fathering a child with someone else, and Eric's continued deception for many years. She returns to L.A. and confronts Eric, advising him to seek a DNA test and also get a lawyer so he can respond to the divorce petition. Eric retains Bobby Burnham to represent him, starts DNA proceedings, and requests that Sookie attend couples' counseling with him before rushing to divorce. Sookie is currently deciding whether or not counseling is an option she wants to pursue. Also, Sookie is beginning to acknowledge, for the first time, Sam's feelings for her. She made the decision to distance herself from Sam, Pam and Amelia in order to get a grip on her feelings. _

_That brings us up to date! Also, I'm not going to lie, the reviews for this story have been quite mixed. Some of the most critical ones seem to think that this is supposed to be your typical "Eric loves Sookie and they ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after" story. That may happen, it may not. Even I don't know at this stage. I do have a number of ideas for taking this story further, but the extremely negative reviews make it hard for me to continue writing. So I ask: if you have issues with the story line, or questions, please PM me and I will be happy to talk to you in-depth. Thanks._

_..._

A sharp knock rapped at the door, and kept it up insistently. Felicia drug herself out of bed, threw on a robe and went to the door. She snatched it open and snapped, "Yes? What's so important that you have to go knocking like a freaking serial killer or something at 8 a.m.?"

"Felicia Benson? Are you Miss Felicia Benson?"

"Yeah. Who the hell are you?"

The man gave her a blank stare and responded, "A process server. You are now official served." He thrust an envelope at her, then turned and strode off.

'_What the...?'_ Felicia thought as she shut the door. She opened the envelope and scanned its contents. She closed her eyes for a moment as she sagged against the closed door. "That son of a bitch!" she raged.

…

Sookie sat in her typical chair in Dr. Compton's office, and her body language radiated tension. Taking his seat behind his desk, Dr. Compton eyed her in a speculative way.

"You seem very wound up today, Sookie. Anything in particular you want to discuss?" he asked.

"So much has happened that I don't know where to start!"

"Ok, take a deep breath. Let's start by me asking if your mood has anything to do with your divorce?"

Sookie breathed and tried to calm herself. "Ummm, yes. Eric's gotten a lawyer. He's refusing to sign any papers unless we attend couples' counseling. Also, he's started a DNA suit, to see if April really is his child."

"Alright. Well, at least we can commend him for finally being proactive in this situation. From what you've told me, so far he's been holed up in your old apartment trying to ignore the whole thing.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm pleased that he's trying to get to the bottom of the paternity issue. If he's not the father, it means that I'd just have to deal with his deception."

"And what are your feelings about his request for counseling?" the doctor asked.

"I don't know!" she wailed. "I told my lawyer that I'd think it over and let him know next week. I asked if you could be the counselor - do you provide couples' counseling?"

"Yes, I do provide couples' counseling. Tell me, what are your thoughts about this that have you so torn?"

"Well, on the one hand, I'm so mad at him still I don't know if I could be in the same room as him. But then I think, we've been together almost ten years. Can I throw all that away without at least trying to see if we can repair things? I think if the child is his, I just couldn't live with that and stay with him. Being a mother is something I want more than anything, and I couldn't stand to see him with a child with someone else. I also couldn't stand it if he decides to have nothing to do with her. I grew up without a dad; I know how hard that is."

"Okay. Let's examine this one thing at a time. You have anger towards him, and you feel justified in this anger. If you two were to attend counseling, it would provide a safe environment to express those feelings. Have you thought of it that way?"

"No... my brain just doesn't seem to want to think past "mad."

"It's a part of the grieving process. And you are grieving the loss of the life you had together. It's a natural reaction. And, I think it would be good for you to be able to express that anger. If you never have your say to him, it could hinder your progress in moving past the relationship with him and moving on with your life."

"I didn't think of it like that - I am grieving. Sometimes I just want to lay on the bed and bang my feet and scream."

"If you've found yourself only being able to express yourself in this way, then I think counseling would benefit you. Even if your marriage is irreparable, you would be able to get out your emotions. It's also important for your husband to hear these things, straight from you. It will drive home the reality of the issues."

Sookie had started crying softly at the feeling of letting things out, and she sniffled. Dr. Compton wordlessly handed over a box of tissues. She wiped her nose and eyes and sighed. "Alright. So counseling isn't a bad idea. I'll call my lawyer and let him know. Could I give him your number, so he or Eric's lawyer could set something up?"

"Of course. I'd be glad to help you. Now, about the possibility of him being a father. You know that finding out for certain if he is or is not the father could take months, perhaps even longer?"

"Yeah, my lawyer told me."

"Alright, so we will have to table that issue until it there is a certain outcome one way or the other. I think it's important that you explain this to Eric, exactly how this situation makes you feel. It's also important for him to explain his side of things. You might be surprised at his feelings. Do you think you can do that?"

"I... I think so. I haven't really thought about what it might mean to him to be a father. He always told me that he didn't care if we couldn't have biological children, he said he was prepared to adopt if that was what we wanted. But now... he might actually be a father. His feelings may have changed. What if he wants to be with someone now who could give him kids?"

"That's a very valid question to pose to him. You'll never know the answer if you don't ask. Now, we have addressed your initial issues. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"Well... yes. I kissed Sam."

"Sam, who is your lifelong friend?"

Sookie winced a bit in shame. "Yes, that Sam. I got my own apartment, see, and Sam helped me move all my new furniture in. We got the bed all put together and then we just decided we needed to jump on the mattress, just for fun and to bring a fun end to what was actually a pretty stressful day. And then we stopped jumping, and I just looked over at him, and it was like it was the first time I'd ever really seen him, you know? I mean, he's always been there, for years, but it was like I'd never really looked at him; he was just kinda part of the scenery." She winced again.

"I see... so how did it feel when you kissed him? Strange? Or natural?"

"That's what really surprised me. I mean, I haven't kissed anyone but Eric for ten years. And then to suddenly kiss Sam... it felt kinda natural. Passionate," she confessed.

"And do you think you want to pursue a relationship with Sam?"

"I don't know. In the moment, I knew I didn't want to stop kissing him. I wanted to take things to the next level. But he ended the kiss. He told me he wouldn't be my rebound guy - basically to not come onto him unless I was sure he was who I wanted."

"It seems he has strong feelings for you. I can understand his point - that you've been a part of each other's lives for so long, he isn't willing to risk losing that for a temporary pleasure. Tell me... have you considered going to counseling with Sam as well?"

"What? No!" Sookie was shocked.

"It might be beneficial to the both of you to take a look at the dynamics of your relationship, since it seems to be such an important one to you both. It might be good for you to hear Sam's take on things, since you've never addressed his attraction to you. It would certainly be good for him to be able to openly express his feelings in a safe, non-judgemental environment. What happened after he ended the kiss?"

"He left," she responded. "I haven't talked to him since then. I thought it would be best if I just took some time out for me to go through all my feelings and make decisions for myself. I've distanced myself from Pam and Amelia, too. They both have very strong opinions of what my decisions should be, and I need to make them on my own, without outside influence."

"Do you see that this might be another example of you hiding from stressful situations, rather than dealing with them head on? We've identified this as one of your coping techniques in the past. You seemed willing to be more open to confronting things, expressing your true feelings."

"I didn't see it like that. I was just trying to be more self-sufficient."

"Being self-sufficient is admirable. We're out of time for this week, but consider what we've talked about. Counseling with Sam. Being more independent, but facing issues head on. Think on it," he urged.

Sookie sighed. "I'll add it to my list."


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Sorry for the delay, Google Docs didn't want to work for a few days. And I would've posted this sooner, but fanfiction has been being a complete fail. Dr. Compton has his hands full in this one! To be honest, it totally took itself in a direction other than I planned, but then again I suppose I can't just send them to therapy and have them immediately start hashing out the big stuff. It has to build up to that, let them get comfortable. Plus, every marriage has it's issues, and often they are mundane - but can build up to become serious. Like leaving the lid off the toothpaste can lead to big fights sometimes. LOL

As always, everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. (Screw Alan Ball and HBO, they've made a travesty of what should've been the best season.)

…

Two weeks later saw Eric and Sookie attending their first joint counseling session with Dr. Compton. Eric wore dark washed jeans and a light blue button up shirt; he sat in the chair closest to the doctor's desk with his head hanging between his knees, stealing glances at Sookie.

Sookie sat at the far end of the doctor's ubiquitous couch, curled into the tightest ball she could manage and as far away from Eric as possible. She wore a maxi-dress and a cardigan - it was the most covered Eric had ever seen her. She usually wore sundresses and little tees, to show off her tan. It was as if she trying to make herself invisible.

Dr. Compton sat at his desk and observed the two for a moment. It was clear just from their body language that he had his work cut out for him. Eric hang dog and penitent, guilty and apologetic; Sookie angry and wound into a ball of negative energy. She looked so tightly wound that she might launch herself at Eric at any moment and do her best to hurt him. And Eric looked like he wouldn't fight back, or even try to defend himself.

"Well, here we all are," Dr. Compton observed drolly. "Eric, you requested we begin this series of counseling sessions. Would you like to begin?"

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"I don't _want_ to you to say anything, but perhaps there are things you'd _like_ to say? Things you'd like to say to Sookie?"

"I'm sor-" Eric began.

"Don't say it! Don't you say you're fucking sorry again!" Sookie interrupted. "If you were sorry, you would've told me at the time and we would've had a shot at getting through this!"

Eric swung his head to face Sookie. "So you're saying we don't have a shot at fixing this? Then why are we here?"

"Because _you_ wanted us to be here," Sookie shot back. "And because as usual, I go along with what _you_ want."

"What is that supposed to mean? You don't always do what I want. Since when do you think that?"

Dr. Compton interjected, "Okay, this is good. We've hit on a subject that it seems hasn't been discussed between you. Let's stay with this for a moment. Sookie, explain why you feel that you always go along with what Eric wants."

"Because," she answered, "whatever Eric wanted, I figured out a way to get for him. He wanted to live in those particular apartments, because it's a trendy neighborhood and he thought it would look good on his resume. Like casting directors would think he was more successful than he is. So I had to work more to be able to make the rent, since I'm the one with a steady income. And that stupid car. Seriously? It gets like, eight miles to the gallon. But no, he _had_ to have it. I couldn't even drive a stick when he bought it. But it was his 'dream.' When the fuck did we ever talk about my dreams?"

"Okay Sookie, those are valid points. Eric, do you have a response?"

"I didn't realize you thought the apartment was too expensive. You always handled the finances, so I trusted you to know what we could and couldn't afford."

"Eric, I did try to tell you. But, as usual, you talked me into it. You can be very persuasive when you want your way."

"Eric, do you feel like perhaps you should've been more involved in your finances?" Dr. Compton asked.

"I'm terrible with money. I can't figure out a budget to save my life. Sookie's good at it, and she never said she wished I would be more active with it. I just handed over my paychecks to her and trusted that she'd take care of things."

"Do you see how you might've been placing too much pressure on Sookie's shoulders, as a way to escape doing something you didn't like?"

"I never really thought of it that way, and she never said that she didn't like it."

"What the hell was I supposed to do, Eric? Just throw my hands up and say I didn't like it, like you? One of us had to be the responsible one, and it was always me," Sookie shot.

"You don't think I'm responsible?" Eric asked.

"Ummm, no. You see something, you want it, you get it. No thoughts about whether or not we can afford it, or maybe that I'd put that money back for something else. And whenever we'd go out, you just assumed I'd be the designated driver. Do you have any idea how much it sucks, to have to sit there and watch your husband and friends have fun and go crazy, while you sit there drinking a Diet Coke? For _ten years_?"

"If you had that money set aside, you should've told me!"

"By the time I had a chance to tell you, it was too late! You'd already bought it, or signed a contract for something we didn't need, like 800 cable channels, or gotten drunk off your head and I had to pour you into the car! The damn Corvette, which stressed me out to drive because it was "your baby," and that I freaking had to learn to drive a stick for? Because 'a real sports car isn't an automatic.' Did you never stop to think that maybe your _wife_ might have to drive it sometimes? No, you just came home with it, it was _your_ car. Never mind that I made the damn payments."

"Let's back off for a moment and cool down," Dr. Compton suggested. "Sookie, it's very good that you are letting these feelings out. You touched on something I'd like to explore further, though. You say that Eric would go out and get drunk. Would you consider him an alcoholic?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I am not a damn alcoholic!" Eric yelled.

"Eric, I'll remind you of the ground rule that there is no yelling in our sessions. If you have something to say, say it in a manner worthy of response. Sookie, would you please answer my question?"

"I don't know if I'd call him an alcoholic, but when he does drink, he tends to forget that he's 30 and he acts like a stupid frat boy. And Eric, your drinking is what got us into this mess, remember? You got drunk off your head and then, according to you, Felicia 'took advantage of you.' She never would've had that opportunity if you hadn't set out to get drunk!"

"Eric, can you see that your drinking caused problems in your marriage? As Sookie said, it was a specific episode of drinking that led you to not be thinking clearly. Can you see that your drinking impaired your judgement?"

Eric sighed. "I can see that. I can see that it wouldn't be fun for Sookie to always have to be the sober one. I never really considered my drinking to be like a "frat boy," but maybe it was immature for my age. But, my job is stressful - you have to look perfect all the time, and it's a cutthroat industry. You're always judged on your appearance just as much as your talent. I needed to let off steam sometimes."

"Eric, every job is stressful. You think my job isn't stressful? I'm responsible for thousands of dollars in props every day. You ever think that maybe, sometimes _I_ wanted to let off steam? Be able to just forget everything and get bombed, knowing my husband would take care of me and take me home? You're freaking 6'5, Eric. I'm 5'6. It's not exactly easy to drag your drunk ass up the stairs and into the apartment."

"I... fuck. Okay, fine. I've been a selfish, drunken ass," Eric replied bitterly.

"Oh, here comes the fucking martyr!" Sookie heckled. "Jesus, Eric, can you ever just take responsibility for something? Just say, 'I drank too much and I'm sorry. I should've helped with the bills and been more mature in my spending.' Do you think you could do that without making yourself into Poor Pitiful Pearl?"

"Is this a pattern of yours, Eric? To deflect responsibility by blaming others or just assuming someone else will clean up after you, so to speak?" Dr. Compton asked.

"I can see how it might be," Eric gritted out.

"Alright, then your assignment - homework, if you will - for this week is to reflect on your past behavior and think of other ways of handling these types of issues. Come up with three ways to be more responsible, so that Sookie doesn't have to carry the entire load."

"Fine," Eric sighed.

"Now, I just want to touch on one other subject that's come up today. Sookie, you said Eric refers to his Corvette as his 'baby.' Knowing your fertility issues, how did that make you feel?"

"Like shit," Sookie responded bluntly. "You know how I said he never asked about my dreams? I wanted to adopt. I was putting money back towards adoption fees. I was trying to keep us financially solvent, so we'd be better candidates as parents. I know you have to be able to show you are responsible with money, so the adoption agency thinks the child will be well provided for. That was _my_ dream."

All the color drained out of Eric's face. "Sookie... oh my God. Oh, fuck. Sookie, I never meant to hurt you by calling the Corvette my baby. It was just an expression. Shit. I'm so, so sorry I ever said it. You know I don't care about the car more than you, right? I don't care that the car's been basically repossessed - I just want you back. It's just a fucking car; you're my wife. Hell, I'll drive a fucking Pinto if it means you come home.

But why, lover, why didn't you tell me you were thinking about adoption? We always said we'd decide on it 'later.' I didn't know what you were waiting for - for me to get a steady gig or for us to be married for however long, you just never said you were ready. I thought I made myself clear that if you ever decided you wanted that, I'd support you 100 percent."

'Please don't call me 'lover,'" Sookie asked quietly. "I'm not your lover, I haven't been for a long time. And the reason I never said anything was because I wanted to get all our ducks in a row, so to speak, so that when I told you I wanted to adopt we'd be able to apply right away. I know you - you always want instant gratification, and you'd have wanted to apply at 3 a.m. if that was when I told you."

Eric looked like Sookie had punched him. Before he could comment, Dr. Compton stepped in.

"Sookie, while I can see that to you, your reasoning for not telling Eric makes sense, it also meant that you were enabling him to continue to be irresponsible. You didn't let him become a true partner in your marriage because you felt you had to be in control. This is a common theme I've noticed with you - the control issue. Your homework for this week is to think back on these times in your marriage - truly examine them - and come up with three ways you could've asked Eric to be an active partner in your marriage.

This has been an astonishing first session. You both are doing very well at being open emotionally. There are a number of issues we need to address, but they will take time. Great job, and I'll see you next week."

Sookie grabbed her purse and rushed out the door. Eric sat silently and watched her go. It seemed like lately, the only time he ever saw his wife was when he was watching her walk away from him.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Thank you for such a wonderful response to the therapy session! I have to give a shout out to my Westie (that's West Coast Bestie, FYI), sunshinelvr, for our brainstorming session for this chapter! And via text, too! That's dedication. I keep writing this story because she keeps asking me to...

And now, my VERY sincere apology for the delay on this chapter. I was quite literally in the middle of a sentence when my dad started work on putting down a new floor in one of my bedrooms/hall. I was making a valiant effort to write through it, when the next thing I know, he's asking me for my help, and as anyone who's ever done DIY work knows, it sucks the life right out of you. Then, the wifi card went out on my netbook, so I spent a fruitless two weeks trying to get it up and running again. I'm currently writing this on my ancient (and very heavy) Mac laptop while waiting for my new laptop to arrive - because I promised you all I would finish this story! (And sunshinelvr, who was the house guest who started the whole DIY thing, will most likely kill me by beating me to death with this very laptop if I don't. That's what I call motivation.) So, to quote Salt N' Pepa... "here I go, here I go, here I go AGAIN..."

…

Over the next few days, Sookie thought long and hard over her past few therapy sessions. It had been very healing to be able to talk to someone totally impartial. And Dr. Compton was right - it was very healing to be able to get a lot of things off her chest to Eric.

She was thinking over her homework assignment, but something Dr. Compton had mentioned a few sessions previously had taken root front and center in her mind. If she thought about it, Sam was the longest non-family relationship of her life. They'd been there for each other through thick and thin, but yet they'd never really discussed the "extra" component of their relationship - Sam's feelings for her.

She still hadn't talked to Sam since the night they kissed, and his words kept ringing through her head. "Don't come to me unless you're serious." Well, wanting to talk things over in therapy was serious, right? Sookie decided that she would kill two birds with one stone - she'd get out of the apartment some, as well as talk to Sam. She'd swing by his bar on Friday night - she hadn't been there for months and months.

On the appointed Friday night, when she got off work she went home and took a hot shower to try to relax. It was silly, to be nervous about talking to Sam, right? Still, she put on a cute dress and a little makeup and wrapped her damp hair up in a bun. She was just switching purses when there was a knock at the door.

Thinking it was probably a neighbor, or maybe Pam stopping by to check in on her, she sprinted over to the door, shoes in hand. She got quite a shock when she opened the door, however.

It was Eric.

Dressed up.

With flowers.

And a hopeful smile on his face.

For a moment, Sookie just stood there, dumbfounded, jaw agape. She looked from the flowers to the pressed shirt up to Eric's face - it still did not compute.

"Hi, Sookie," Eric said softly.

"Um, hi. What are you doing?"

"I know we're doing the therapy thing, which I think is great, but I thought I would do something extra."

"Extra?" she asked dumbfounded.

"I know you've said you've lost your trust in me, and I'd like to work on earning it back. I thought... I thought maybe we could have date nights. We can do whatever you want, you pick. We can even go bungee jumping if you want. I'd just like to spend some time with you... I'd like for you to trust me again."

"Eric...," Sookie said exasperatedly. "You just show up at my place on a Friday night and assume I don't have plans? Wait - how did you get my address, anyway?"

"Um... I sort of swiped it out of Pam's phone when she was in the bathroom?" he said sheepishly.

"Oh," she trailed off. "That's... actually, I don't know how exactly I feel about that. But look, Eric, you can't just show up and assume that I'm going to drop everything and go out on the town, or wherever, with you. I'm just barely tolerating the thought of spending time in the same room as you in therapy. I don't know if I can do..." she gestured between herself and the flowers, "this."

"I thought you might say no at first. But a guy can hope, right?" Eric said. "Look, I'll be here every Friday night until you're ready. Or Saturday, or whatever day you pick."

"Eric," Sookie answered, "I don't think you're hearing me. I don't know that I _will_ pick, that I will _want_ to pick. You can't just show up here once a week and expect me to suddenly go out with you. That's kind of ... stalking. Not to mention presumptuous."

"Ok, well, how about I call you each week? Would that be okay?"

Sookie sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea, either. I think we should talk about this in therapy."

"But ... but I want to do something that's just the two of us, you know? Something for us to build a new foundation on."

"I appreciate that you think you have the best intentions," Sookie said, shifting from foot to foot a bit impatiently, for she was losing the bit of steam she'd built up to go and have the "big" discussion with Sam, "but what's best for you right now isn't necessarily what's best for me anymore."

Eric looked her up and down, as if taking in her outfit for the first time. "You look ... nice. Really nice. I guess I caught you going out. Going out with the girls? Over to Stiletto?"

"Why would you just assume I'm going out with the girls? Is it not within the realm of possibility that I might be going to see a man?" Sookie snapped. "And if I _was_ going out with the girls, would I tell you if I was going to Stiletto, so you could follow along and act like a cave man again and practically beat any guy who glances at me over the head with a club?"

Eric blanched. "Look, I'm sorry about that. I was … well, I was in a really bad place at the time and I just couldn't handle seeing someone hit on my wife. I still don't know if I could handle it. And hearing you tell him no, and him not taking no for an answer, well, it was more than I could sit by and take."

"Eric, I'm going to say this as gently as possible, and I need you to hear me, okay?" Sookie reached out and took his hand - the first real physical contact they'd had in months. Eric started, staring at their joined hands as if he'd received an electric shock.

"I know that we are talking about things in therapy. But you need to face the very real prospect that there may be things that we can't overcome. That we had issues, problems, aside from this ... thing ... with Felicia. You need to start to try to accept the fact that there may come a time in the future that I am no longer your wife, and you will have to move on. I have filed for divorce, Eric. That's real, and I know that seems grown up and scary and like it could never happen to us, but it is happening to us."

Eric finally looked up from their hands and met her eyes. "No, Sookie. It will never happen to us. You will _always_ be my wife. Whether you want to be or not." And he turned on his heel and left, his broad shoulders disappearing into the inky night.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: Wow, the review for the last chapter were pretty mixed. I'd just like to remind everyone that way back in Chapter One, I did warn you that in this story, Eric is not perfect, and Eric does not always win. This may not turn out to be an E/S HEA. I'm just going where they take me, and if that's where they go, so be it.

Thanks as always to sunshinelvr, who encourages me even when I want to quit when faced with tough reviews.

This chapter is dedicated to Nelsan Ellis - I hope I do his portrayal of Lafayette justice.

…

Sookie watched Eric's back recede into the night. She shut her front door and dropped her shoes and purse, then collapsed down into her favorite chair. She'd been expecting to have a difficult emotional conversation tonight, but that wasn't the person she was expecting to have it with. She allowed herself a few minutes of wallowing in self pity and feeling stressed over what had just happened, then she kicked her Stackhouse resolve into gear. She put on her shoes, grabbed her purse and headed out the door with renewed purpose.

She pulled in to Sam's bar about thirty minutes later. The parking lot was pretty full, but then again it was a Friday night. She made her way in, and was making her way to the bar to see Sam when suddenly a voice rang out through the din of the crowd.

"Hookah! It's about time you came to see me! Now get yourself over here and come give Laffy a hug, girl!"

Grinning, she turned and made her way back towards the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sam notice her from the bar and smile.

She went back into the kitchen and was immediately swept up into a hug and swung around. She giggled and hugged Lafayette back, hard, in return.

"Hi, Laf, how are ya?"

"Oh, honey, you know LaLa is always good. Life done been treating me right! Business is good - except for ole' pouty pants out there moping at the bar - I gots me a new boyfriend and he is de-licious! I found me a new gold eye shadow that is _working_ for me, and I been finding some _gems_ when I been shopping! Now, you tell LaLa what you want to eat - cause you lookin' too thin, girl - and I'll fix it up for you and then I'll bring it out and you can tell me what's what with you these days."

"Don't you need to keep the kitchen running?"

"Big Sam can cover the kitchen for me for a while; ain't that right, Big Sam?"

"Sho 'nuff," replied the huge short order cook.

"Okay, well, how about some cheese fries? I don't want much to eat, I need to talk to Sam later and I'm a little nervous about it, so I'll take something small."

"Cheese fries comin' right up! Go find a table, sugar, and I bring 'em right out."

Sookie made her way to the small dining room and was in luck, a small table for two had just opened up. Sam made his way over and gave her a nervous grin.

"Hey, Sook, what can I get you to drink? The usual?"

"Actually, Sam, I'll take a Coke tonight, please. And, um, I was wondering... if you might have some time later for us to talk? Like privately? Maybe in your office?"

"Sure, Sook. I'll bring your Coke right over, you take your time catching up with Lafayette, and when you're ready, come find me and I'll get Terry to cover the bar for a while."

"Thanks, Sam," Sookie said with her own nervous grin, as Lafayette came out with her plate of cheese fries. He took note of the nervous looks between the two, but for once chose not to comment.

"Here you go, sugar." He slid into the seat across from her.

"I'll go grab your Coke, Sook." Sam took off back to the bar.

"Coke, huh? No gin and tonic tonight?" Lafayette asked.

"No, I'm nervous, and I'm afraid if I have one, I'll want another, and another, and then I'll be too drunk to talk to him."

"Gonna finally talk about the elephant in the room, huh? 'Bout damn time. Only been about 10, 20 years in the making," Lafayette retorted.

Sam came back with Sookie's Coke. "Here you go, chere. Need anything else?"

"She's fine. Go on back to the bar," Lafayette dismissed him with a wave.

"You know, this is my bar, too, Lafayette," Sam shot back."

"Oh, I know, honey. But right now I'm claiming this booth as my half. So shoo." Sookie stifled a giggle as Sam turned red and stomped back to the bar.

"Laffy! Now you've gotten him all mad and that's not going to help me at all!" she whispered.

"Oh, honey, I could shoot him in the leg and he'd still be sweet as pie to you. That's just the way it is. So, catch me up on - what's wrong?"

Sookie had turned pale and slid down in her seat. "Oh, shit."

Lafayette turned around to see what had upset her. It was Eric. He'd deduced that if she wasn't at Pam's club, there was a very good chance she'd be at Sam's bar, and he was pissed. He looked around and spotted Sam. He went charging over to the bar, and before anyone could blink, had him by the shirt and pulled halfway across the bar.

"You," Eric snarled. "I should've known she'd go running to you. I never bought your whole "just friends" bullshit. I knew once I was out of the way, you'd be right there to jump in and fill my spot. But you'll never have her, you-" his tirade was cut off by a strong arm around his windpipe.

Lafayette, although about six inches shorter than Eric, had him in an iron stronghold from behind. "You fuck with my girl, treat her like shit, then you got the fuckin' nerve to come up in _my_ bar and fuck with _my_ friend? You need to learn some manners, pretty boy. You think because you pretty you can do whatever you want, say whatever you want? Not in my bar, and not to my friends." He yanked Eric backwards, then shoved him towards the door. Someone rushed to open the for him, and he threw Eric out onto the sidewalk. "You want to come up in my bar, you gonna act how I fuckin' tell you!" he spat and strolled back to the kitchen.

Sookie slid further down in her seat, mortified. Could this night _get_ any worse?


End file.
